Hi there, dude (or lady) in a suit who probably works really
hard and just thinks they're being extra efficient. OUR TIME IS VALUABLE TOO.
Seriously, stop forcing doctor's offices to over schedule patients. I hear
doctors and their employees complain all the time about people who show up late
or cancel or just don't to bother to show up at all. And it is indeed,
incredibly rude. But why is it I never hear you comment on the parent of some
sick kid who has been there for an HOUR in your waiting room with a crying
baby? Do you realize what it's like to be sick and miserable and have to sit
there on those always uncomfortable seats having to be quiet and behave?
Especially, if say, you're five years old? Once, when feisty pants was little I
sat in the waiting room of a medical lab for over an hour- with a very sick
little girl with pneumonia, on oxygen, with an order that had STAT written
across the top in big bold red ink and your employees acted like it wasn't in
any way urgent. (Another doctor- a stranger- who happened to be there for a
blood test of his own, took one look at FP and started yelling until someone
took care of her immediately or for all I know we could still be there in that
purgatory of a waiting room. BTW- in case I never thanked you Doc, Thanks!)
You're worse than airlines with overbooking. I know it's the insurance
companies insisting on you seeing as many patients in the shortest amount of
time. But I bet you there could be a way if we ALL rebelled to put an end to it
once for all. (Maybe, next time someone sues over a misdiagnosis you could turn
around and sue their insurance provider for forcing you to not spend enough time
to do the job right? just saying.)
And for the love of all that is good and holy in this world,
hire enough people to run your offices. I watch the office people scramble all
the time to try to deal with all the scheduling and billing and phones and
charts while cranky parents and crankier patients who HATE waiting want to be
taken care of right NOW. Your answer to this, dear administrators seems to be
not to hire more people, but to put in a frigging annoying automated phone
system that makes the wait EVEN longer. You guys should have to work in a busy
doctor's office for a few weeks before you are allowed to run a clinic system or
hospital. You might make better, more humane decisions. And you should have
to deal with a severely disabled patient and their caregivers and their
feedback SEVERAL times during that period. With a case like Feisty Pants, time
is always of utmost importance. If I can get her to the doctor and get the
tests and meds we need and nip an illness in the bud before it turns into
pnuemonia, we can usually keep her out of the hospital. But if I cannot get
past the phonelines and office staff (not usually an issue but occasionally I
get some newbie who thinks I don't really mean it when I say "She needs to be
seen right now" or somehow thinks I am an overdramatic parent.) make no mistake,
a cold turns into a lung infection and often a ER visit, and transfer to a
bigger far away hospital. I once sat on the phone for over two hours before I
gave up hope of ever speaking to a human being. Hint to other parents- know
what I do for that issue?? If can't get through after 20 mins and FP needs to be
seen I just show up. Seriously. I show with a sick kid in a wheelchair and an
oxygen tank and her suction machine and say, "I tried to get through but
couldn't so I decided to save you some time and here we are" Big smile. "How
soon can you get me in?" Then I sit where they have to watch her cough and
stare at them until they take us back to see the doc. I have no shame or
scruples when it comes to FP's medical care. The difference, dear
administrators, between you and me is that I think that is a virtue. And the
better you staff those offices, the less likely you have to deal with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment