The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: franksolich on July 03, 2011, 05:10:57 PM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=222x106355
Oh my.
BridgeTheGap (1000+ posts) Thu Jun-30-11 12:19 PM
Original message
Would your doctor pay for wasted time?
(CNN) -- Elaine Farstad got antsy as she waited for her doctor, who was late for her scheduled appointment. Then she got downright impatient. Then, as nearly two hours passed, she got mad. Then she came up with an idea.
"I decided to bill the doctor," she says. "If you waste my time, you've bought my time."
When Farstad returned home, she figured out her hourly wage working as an IT specialist at Boeing in Everett, Washington. She doubled it for the two hours she'd spent in the waiting room, and mailed the invoice to her doctor.
"It's ludicrous -- why would I wait for free?" says Farstad, who is now an engineering graduate student at North Carolina State University. "Like we all learned in kindergarten, it's about respecting each other."
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/30/time.worth.money.c...
bemildred (1000+ posts) Thu Jun-30-11 12:21 PM
Response to Original message
1. Just walk out and refuse to pay if they don't show up on time.
That won't work for a primitive anxious to get a new prescription for a mood-altering pharmaceutical.
Donnachaidh (1000+ posts) Thu Jun-30-11 12:40 PM
Response to Original message
3. My obstetrician kept me waiting 4 HOURS for an ultrasound
And his office harpies raised a holy stink when I stated I needed to pee (after drinking the quart of water for the ultrasound 3 HOURS before).
I watched in horror as the doctor strolled in with golf clubs! F*cker was on the golf course while here I was, 8 months pregnant, bloated with water, and being told not to go to the bathroom.
I tore his receptionist a new one and tried to find another ob that afternoon. Of course, no one would touch me that far along....
kickysnana (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-01-11 12:38 AM
Response to Reply #3
8. Just wondering why you didn't tear the OB/GYN a new one since receptionists have no control?
Donnachaidh (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-01-11 01:34 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. she certainly had control over allowing me to pee
And got loud and stupid when I first asked after an hour and a half. And believe me, I gave the doctor unending shit about his carting hsi clubs through a reception room filled with pregnant women waiting on his ass.
Blue Meany (825 posts) Thu Jun-30-11 02:02 PM
Response to Original message
5. I did this to my dentist, once...
I told him in advance that I didn't have time to wait and that I expected the appointment to start on time. I waited two hours, and I billed him for it. He ddin't pay it, but he never kept me waiting again.
Deep13 (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-01-11 12:24 AM
Response to Original message
7. If someone comes in with a serious problem...
...the doc cannot just brush that patient off. As a result, sometimes later appointments have to wait while the doctor attends to the unplanned, complex problem. I'm not saying doctors are never inconsiderate, but often it is because an earlier appointment requires more time than was planned for to do the job correctly.
PADemD (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-03-11 12:25 PM
Response to Reply #7
11. If there is an emergency appointment the receptionist can phone the next appointment and inform them or reschedule.
When I was working, I called the receptionist before I left work to ask if the doctor was running late.
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5. I did this to my dentist, once...
No you didn't. :whatever:
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Not a recommended practice if you ever plan to go back to the same doctor again, if he even lets you book another appointment after a stunt like that.
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If I were the doctor, regardless of whether I was finished consulting the primitive patient or not, when the time came for the appointment of the patient following their appointment arrived, I'd boot them out of the office, lickety-split.
It works two ways. We can't keep them waiting, you know.
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Man dummies are freaking stupid. Wanna get in to see the doc on time? It's easy. Make your appt either at 8 or 9am when they open, or 1pm when they come back from lunch. You are first and no delays. Shit happens in a medical practice and delays are common.
Now the key here is to show up on time, every time. Hell be early, I usually am. First time you are late, the office won't give you those coveted spots. Oh and pay your damn bill.
Morons.
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When I was in the process of having my 2nd M/C I called my doctor and told him I thought I was having a miscarriage. My doctor told me to come in so he could check me. I walked in with several towels stuffed between my legs. He rushed me into a room, there were several women waiting who I'm sure were upset because they knew their appointment was going to be late because of me. I was passing blood clots the size of liver by the time I got to his office and after examining me told me to go directly to the ER...he met me there and did an emergency D and C. I'm sure the women in the waiting room were told their appointments were cancelled.
I have had to wait over two hours for doctor appointments, they were always specialists. I knew that they had emergencies or difficult appointments. Yes I got irritated at times but that's life. The next time you have an emergency DUmmies I hope your doctor tell you they don't have time to screw with you.
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Hmmm, having to wait to see the doc? Jjust like socialized medicine........
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If you walk into an office with an appointment and have to wait 3 hours with no explination, that is un-acceptable. If you check in with the receptionist and they know the office is WAY behind and do not say anything, I get furious. If the doc is taking care of an emergency I will wait all day. I think the worse thing is there is rarley an explination.
I was the Patient Contact Rep in the military clinic I worked at. We had to explain to patients why they had to wait 15 minutes after their appointment time if we were just working without any emergencies.
I have asked the office manager at my kids pediatricians office if my time was worth anything to them when we had to wait for the first appointment of the afternoon for 2 hours. It is a business when it comes right down to it. If we all paid in cash, I bet the 3 hour waits would dissapear in a NY minute.
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You ain't seen nuttin yet. If obamacare goes into effect, we're screwed. We're not talking wait time in hours. We're talking months.
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I'm not going to disagree with dummies just because they are dummies. That kind of wait time is unacceptable. The problem in this is just what someone else suggested, doctor's office rarely communicate why they are running so late thereby giving you the option to reschedule or wait. My time is valuable and while I understand emergencies happen, when this is not the case and they are already just running over from the day's appts, I want to know AS SOON AS I CHECK IN. To me that's a courtesy just letting me know that honors my time and gives me the option. Hell, I think some drs are relieved when you say you'll reschedule since that makes them less behind that day.
I dont know if I buy the walking in with golf clubs thing though. Any person(forget doctor) worth their salt would have known they'd have a bunch of pissed customers waiting and probably would have left something like that in the back of the car so as not to fuel the fire. That said, I guess it never occured to her that he was on the course EARLIER in the day, got called to an emergency during his game, and that's what actually delayed him--he just happened to be bringing his clubs in from the morning game that normally he might have dropped home had he not been called into an emergency, but there again, communication from his office staff is key. If you are going to be that late, I"m sorry, but you really should cancel at that point...to me when you get in the hour range, it's time to start giving the option to the earlier appointments OR start calling the later afternoon appoints to reschedule so those people aren't waiting too...doctor's generally pay a staff to do these chores for them so I don't get the total lack of communication on their parts.
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I look at it this way...if the doctor is late because he's with another patient who may have an emergency...well, good for them. I would hope it meant I would get the same treatment in a similar situation.
I've only had to wait an exorbitant amount of time once-yes, at the OB. I waited 90 minutes or so, but was told she was doing an emergency c-section and was running late. I know one time we caused a delay, at the pediatrician's office, when they thought Viv might have had appendicitis. They took such good care of us, asking lots of questions, offering reassurance and really doing everything they could for us, that I am no longer upset when I have to wait. I figure if they treat all their patients like they treated us that day, it is worth waiting.
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You ain't seen nuttin yet. If obamacare goes into effect, we're screwed. We're not talking wait time in hours. We're talking months.
Game. Set. Match.
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I dont know if I buy the walking in with golf clubs thing though.
Well, since that could not possibly have happened, it's the key to realizing the whole bouncy tale is a DUmmy lie.
It all goes back to the envy and hatred DUmmies have for anyone who makes a decent income.
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Well, since that could not possibly have happened, it's the key to realizing the whole bouncy tale is a DUmmy lie.
It all goes back to the envy and hatred DUmmies have for anyone who makes a decent income.
Actually, i rethought it. I am going with the doctor had the morning off and went golfing, got called to an emergency FROM HIS GAME, and the emergency delayed him and not the game. Came straight from the emergency to his office and brought his clubs from EARLIER in the morning in. As an OBGYN though, maybe its best to remember the fragile emotional state of your patients :-) and leave the golf clubs in the car.
I stand by what I said about communicating to patients though. Give people the option to wait or reschedule...that's courteous and professionalism.
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Not a recommended practice if you ever plan to go back to the same doctor again, if he even lets you book another appointment after a stunt like that.
Back in the day when market forces ruled the exchange of currency for goods and services that wouldn't necessarily have been a bad thing.
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Donnachaidh (1000+ posts) Thu Jun-30-11 12:40 PM
Response to Original message
3. My obstetrician kept me waiting 4 HOURS for an ultrasound
And his office harpies raised a holy stink when I stated I needed to pee (after drinking the quart of water for the ultrasound 3 HOURS before).
I watched in horror as the doctor strolled in with golf clubs! F*cker was on the golf course while here I was, 8 months pregnant, bloated with water, and being told not to go to the bathroom.
I tore his receptionist a new one and tried to find another ob that afternoon. Of course, no one would touch me that far along....
Donnachaidh (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-01-11 01:34 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. she certainly had control over allowing me to pee
And got loud and stupid when I first asked after an hour and a half. And believe me, I gave the doctor unending shit about his carting hsi clubs through a reception room filled with pregnant women waiting on his ass.
No, you didn't, DUmbass, because that never happened. I'm sure that you had to wait at some point with your bladder full for an ultrasound longer than you wanted but the tots and twats doctor did not cart a bag full of golf clubs with his funny pants and spikey shoes on past a room full of hormonal women that he had kept waiting for hours.
It's a cute story and I know it makes you sound like some kind of working class heroine to the rest of the mouth-breathers, but you're just making things up.
:loser:
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the tots and twats doctor
:lmao: I had a girlfriend who called them "the snatch doctor."
I'm not buying the golf clubs story, either.
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:lmao: I had a girlfriend who called them "the snatch doctor."
I'm not buying the golf clubs story, either.
Yeah, but "snatch" just sounds so.... ugly.
:-)
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I watched in horror as the doctor strolled in with golf clubs!
*ahem*
BULLSHIT!!!
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I watched in horror as the doctor strolled in with golf clubs!
:overreaction:
the horror... :sad1:
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I've been going to doctors and dentists for decades. I have never seen one enter or exit through the waiting room. I think they always have a private door for the doctor and staff.
I wish, when the DUmmy was making up her story, she had claimed he was a hunter, and came through the waiting room carrying a rifle and dragging a dead deer. Or a fisherman, with a stringer of dead catfish. She would not have lost any credibility, but would have increased her entertainment value immensely.
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I've been going to doctors and dentists for decades. I have never seen one enter or exit through the waiting room. I think they always have a private door for the doctor and staff.
I wish, when the DUmmy was making up her story, she had claimed he was a hunter, and came through the waiting room carrying a rifle and dragging a dead deer. Or a fisherman, with a stringer of dead catfish. She would not have lost any credibility, but would have increased her entertainment value immensely.
I have..my obgyn in fact. :lmao:
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I have..my obgyn in fact. :lmao:
Was the obgyn dragging out the string of dead fish before or after the day's business?
Bitshcslap count to skyrocket in 3...2...1...
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Was the obgyn dragging out the string of dead fish before or after the day's business?
Bitshcslap count to skyrocket in 3...2...1...
I don't know that she had an aged dummies as her patients. :-)
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I remember reading (Reader's Digest?) many years ago that a guy successfully sued his doctor for no showing the appointment. I guess the doc was out playing golf while the patient sat in the waiting room for many hours before he was told the doc wouldn't be in.
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It always amuses me to see people that can't tie their own shoes complaining about how high level professionals conduct their successful businesses. Put a DUmmy in charge and those wait times go from minutes/hours to months/years.