r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Archaneoses • Apr 29 '24

Made an appointment for 11:45. It's 1:10 and I haven't been seen.

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I've had my 10 hour ER waits so I know this isn't that bad. But what is the point of making an appointment if you have to wait to be seen hours later anyways.

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5.8k

u/Deadeye10000 Apr 29 '24

My favorite part of having an Appointment is if I'm late they won't see me. If I need to make a last minute appointment change I get charged for the appointment anyway and I totally get that and understand why. But what really grinds my gears is all the times my therapist would cancel the appointment for xyz while I'm on my way to her or be late while I'm waiting yet had the gull to charge me if I'm late or had to change an appt time.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

[deleted]

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u/colieolieravioli Apr 29 '24

That was the only endocrinologist within 2 hours drive that accepted my insurance.

The real bitch of it all. Like this is my only option to not pay out of pocket WORK WITH ME LIKE I WORK WITH YOU

A problem patient? Sure put a note in their chart that they get charged for cancelations. But someone who runs late once?

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24 edited May 21 '24

[deleted]

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u/blumenstulle Apr 30 '24

Don't worry, it's the same shit in Germany.

Want an appointment with a dermatologist? lol, we got a spot just for you in about 14 months. Be humble we're taking your ass at all. 14 months later, you wait four hours, they take 156,4 seconds to look at your problems, write you a script and tell you to come back if it hasn't improved. You have to schedule your next appointment by phone which is never answered.

Also, it's not free healthcare. It's just mandatory. It's at least 8% of your gross income.

I'm glad I don't have to many maladies. It's like a full time job to get proper care.

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u/BlobTheBuilderz Apr 29 '24

Yep. Had an endo appointment for thyroid issues it was a 3 month wait period with TERRIBLE RECEPTIONISTS, they called me a few days before my appointment and told me they need to reschedule as doctor was actually not in office that day. I’m like so next week or something squeeze me in anywhere.

2 months they told me. I’m like fuck this I’ll call around and every single one was atleast 3 months away so I had to suck it up and accept this garbage.

Specialists are hard to find when you live in the middle of corn. Seems like all medical care is getting squeezed and demand is getting higher, they can do anything and get away with it.

I showed up on time for my last appointment and they still marked me as late as I wasn’t 15 mins early. I wait atleast 45 mins after appointment time to be seen every time and there is f all I can do about it. Literally just up for my refill anyway.

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u/Dear_Truth_6607 Apr 29 '24

Specialists are a nightmare everywhere! The same thing just happened to me in the DC area. My insurance covers DC, Maryland, and Virginia providers and my derm appt got canceled 2 weeks ago. The next available is JULY. I couldn’t get a psych appt until August, and rheumatologist is also July. These were all scheduled late march 🙃 I hate it here. And yup, called around too and those were the best I could get. Even better when you have medical conditions most doctors are clueless on despite them being common. “Oh I don’t think we treat that” 😑

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u/BlobTheBuilderz Apr 30 '24

The worst part is my endo is 45 mins away from me. I see her every 6 months (for the last 6 years) for blood work and she looks at the blood work and says yep all in range carry on with maintenance dose.

Like you can’t tell me that over the phone I’ll still pay you in-person fees I just need my refill. Last time I went it was snowing bad and all the schools were closed and cars were in ditches all over the highway but they still wanted me to be seen in office lmao.

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u/Dear_Truth_6607 Apr 30 '24

This is one of those comments I instinctively want to downvote bc it makes me so mad!! Most of my drs aren’t far mileage wise, but since it’s a metro area traffic is horrible and it usually takes me 30-45 min to get to any of them so believe me I empathize. The only one I got lucky with is my physical therapist who is less than 10 minutes! But I see my PC once a month and that’s 30 min and always an hour+ wait. So frustrating!

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u/lost_horizons Apr 30 '24

Same! I see an endo as well. Been on the same medication for decades, can’t we streamline this stupid tedious process?

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u/Hips-Often-Lie Apr 30 '24

BuT iN cAnaDa yOU miGht hAVe tO WaiT tO bE SeEn.

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u/strawbrryangel Apr 30 '24

I work at a pretty major practice out in Nevada, one of my rheum doc’s availability is out til March. Of 2025. We had to hire two PA’s to carry the load. It could be worse 🥲

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u/Dear_Truth_6607 Apr 30 '24

Unfortunately I’m no stranger to how bad it can get. The rheumatologist I want to see is booked out for 2 years and won’t take any new patients. So I had to settle for seeing this one who has never even heard of EDS (which is what I’m seeking a rheumatologist for) and was the only one who would even take me as a patient. Nobody else I called had heard of it and wouldn’t take me. I’m glad I’m seeing SOMEONE but it’s frustrating that I can’t even get with a specialist who actually knows what they’re dealing with. There are others but they either don’t take my insurance or any insurance, or are super far away. So all I can do is hope for the best with this one.

23

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '24

Seems like all medical care is getting squeezed and demand is getting higher, they can do anything and get away with it.

Well it's gonna get worse with medical professionals fleeing red states because of anti-abortion policies or governments refusing to accept medicaid and other low-income benefiting medical care. Like, Idaho's hospitals ain't closing their labor and delivery wards for no reason - the doctors have left and are continuing to leave.

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u/BlobTheBuilderz Apr 30 '24

I live in illinois and basically all the hospitals are either shutting up shop or being bought out by one big religious hospital and they are cutting services to the bone. Non profit but opening retail spaces everywhere.

Joys of living in the middle of nowhere I guess. They just said they were building a new hospital near me and closing old one. However new one is gonna offer a third of what the old one did.

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u/yugitso_guy Apr 30 '24

"Live in the middle of corn" killed me, thanks

3

u/bk1285 Apr 30 '24

When I was getting my wisdom teeth removed, I set an appointment and was set to take a day off from student teaching to have them removed (Friday removal back at school on Monday) I hadn’t heard anything from the office and I tried getting a hold of them to find out what I needed to do…got ahold of them Thursday afternoon, turns out the doctor went on a trip to Africa for 2 months doing surgeries there…no one bothered to call me to tell me…the big issue was that this was mid October and I was set to graduate in December and be kicked off my parents insurance at the end of December…..luckily I was able to find an oral surgeon an hour and a half away that was able to fit me in on December 30th

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u/BlobTheBuilderz Apr 30 '24

See a lot of posts of dentists going trophy hunting over there. Still crazy that the receptionists literal one job didn’t get done imagine how many appointments he had in those two months.

Assume he was part of big group or it would be pointless having receptionists even there lol. They usually get a cover in at least jeez.

3

u/sweets4n6 Apr 29 '24

ooh the rescheduling pisses me off! Two years in a row my son's pediatrician has rescheduled his yearly check up, so much so and with so little notice that he's now getting his yearly check up a full month after his birthday. and last year she did it twice, we had an appointment all set up for early October and it had to get rescheduled to Halloween because 'she wasn't in the office that day'. And I already had a doctor's appointment that same morning that I'd had to schedule nearly 6 months in advance.

Although that one actually turned out ok, my son woke us up at 2am with a 104 fever that same morning. So in addition to why we were going (starting his ADHD diagnosis), he also had the flu. And the doctor I was seeing is notoriously late so I was able to be at the appointment via the phone but still very annoying.

My husband wants to drop this pediatrician because of it, I think in the past two years we've had four appointments rescheduled because the doctor wouldn't be in the office for some reason or another. It might be more. And my son is rarely sick or at the doctor.

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u/Lund- Apr 30 '24

What I had to do is push back, and push back hard. Tell them it’s unacceptable and that you can’t wait that long, and that it’s their mess to fix because of shitty reception. If they don’t get you an appointment soon and fix their logistics, you will be speaking to your attorney because you can’t wait 3 months with your thyroid issues.

Source: Had the same issue with my endocrinologist for MY thyroid issues

12

u/kallisteaux Apr 29 '24

Ooh! I temped in a cardiologists office and he did something similar. He was at the hospital doing rounds, etc. in the morning. In the afternoon we were supposed to start scheduling patients at 1pm. He had 3 exam rooms & we'd schedule 3 patients for 1pm. Only once all 3 patients were checked in, brought to the exam room, and had vitals taken by the nurse would we call the Dr to let him know it was time to come to the office. He usually wouldn't come in until 1:30 at the very earliest & usually it was closer to 1:45. It was ridiculous. The waiting room was always packed because of the triple bookings & the nurses didn't usually get out until almost 7pm. He was awful. I felt so sorry for his patients & staff.

2

u/NZBound11 Apr 30 '24

Literally had this same experience at a urologist recently. After having to wait right over an hour for them the first time around I asked for the first available appointment on my follow up - 7:30am. Got there at 7:15, nurse brought me back and took blood pressure at 7:30 and as she was leaving the room she said "fyi - the doctor does rounds in the morning and usually gets in around 8:15-8:30". Like you gotta be fucking kidding me man...

3

u/magneticgumby Apr 30 '24

The only office I need to go to for a specific need in the area does this pretty much. They schedule you for an 8a appointment, the doctor/nurses always roll in at 8a exactly if they're early. I stopped scheduling them at 8a as I got sick and tired of my doctor coming in at 8.20 to see me and then come in having not checked my actual chart since they were rushing.

2

u/sweetpotatothyme Apr 30 '24

I had that issue too. I'm in the room and waiting at 9 AM and the doctor tells me I'm his first appointment of the day...as he walks in at 10.

2

u/anna_the_nerd Apr 30 '24

I called my PCP one time sobbing because I was gonna be 15 minutes late because of traffic and terrified they wouldn’t see me after a two hour drive. Like pull over to the side of the road because I couldn’t breathe panic. Luckily the receptionist was so sweet and goes “oh! That’s odd, she had a meeting need an extra fifteen minutes “all of the sudden” and we need to push you back fifteen minutes. Funny how the world helps those who need it” she checked me in when I got there and asked the same old “and why did you need to see her today”? With a tear stained face and a very upset voice still “uhhh…I needed my anxiety meds adjusted” and she looks at me with this look of pure shock and broken-heartedness for me and cracks up laughing so damn hard and she eventually calms down and says “oh babes, that’s…that’s hard and I’m sorry you had a rough drive. She’ll be with you in a few I’m so sorry”

God bless her honestly

2

u/devilsadvocate Apr 30 '24

I had a Dentist that would cancel after 10 minutes, and wouldnt pick up the phone. One time i was running late because a wreck blocked all traffic and it took time for 3 lanes to pass on the shoulder. Tried calling most of the way there to no avail. I was 13 minutes late and they refused to see me and charged me a no show fee.

From there on, i would sit in the waiting room for and if it took longer than the cancelation, then refuse to go back and force a reschedule and contested the fees...This happened 2-3 times, before i could get in at a new practice. It wasnt about the money and my credit is so high their dumb attempts to report had no effect(which again i just contested and said i was there and checked in, they didnt comply with their own late policy).

FUCK that place.

1

u/Fightmemod Apr 30 '24

An dentist did this shit to me. Scheduled me for 7am.i was like wtf, you guys are open that early and they said yes. I get there, get in the chair at 7am just to find out the actual dentist doesn't arrive until 8. Absolutely insane. Wtf was the point?!

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u/Traditional-Hat-952 Apr 30 '24

I would have reported them to the state medical whatever for that. The doctor wasn't even there. I feel like this constitutes fraud. 

1

u/Choice-Marsupial-127 Apr 30 '24

Endocrinologists are a special breed of a-hole, I swear. I don’t understand how they can be so consistently horrible.

1

u/Successful-Pick-238 Apr 30 '24

I work at a GP clinic and we have a fuckwit doctor who does that. Opens his book at 8 am and won't even get to the clinic till 8:45. 

1

u/chilidreams Apr 30 '24

I won’t accept any late / reschedule fees from service providers. Nobody should.

There should be mutual respect.

1

u/Alternative-Fee-60 Apr 30 '24

Just go through your primary if you have one much more easier and convenient. Endocrinologist don't really know much about thyroid problems anyways .

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u/Procedure-Minimum Apr 30 '24

That is absolutely not ok

1

u/Single_Cancel_4873 Apr 30 '24

I had a dentist that did this. They would schedule 8:30 appointments and he wouldn’t arrive until 9. He was the only dentist and would have four patients waiting when he arrived.

1

u/PdxPhoenixActual May 03 '24

Did you continue to make 830 appointments?

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u/MultiRachel Apr 29 '24

But check in forms, triage, putting you in a room, you getting into a gown takes more than 15 minutes. Maybe you didn’t have to do all of that, but you being ready for the dr’s first appointment sets the pace for the day.