Appointment Times and Rules Should Be Honored by Doctors

It has undoubtedly happened to you. You make an appointment with your doctor for a certain time, show up when you are supposed to...and then you wait for what seems like an eternity to actually see said doctor.

I had a doctor appointment yesterday at 4 p.m. I left work about 2 hours before I normally do in order to get there on time.

I sat in the waiting room until 6:07 p.m. I didn't see the doctor until 6:30 p.m.

Good thing I didn't plan anything for after my appointment.

Now, I know what you're thinking, you probably would have gotten up and walked out. I would have, except it's tough to get an appointment with this doc, and she's really good.

The thing is, the staff could have called at some point yesterday and said, 'hey, the doctor is running really behind, can you come in at 5:30?'

That would have been totally cool with me, and would have taken them all of two minutes.

The kicker is, my appointment was originally for last Friday, and they called about three hours before to ask if they could reschedule because the doctor got called in for emergency surgery.

I'm a reasonable person, so naturally, I said it was absolutely fine to reschedule.

My issue is that their office has a policy that if you cancel or reschedule your appointment within 24 hours of the appointment, they charge you $50. If you are more than 15 minutes late, they ask you to reschedule, and charge you $50.

So...the doctor first rescheduled within 24 hours...then was 2.5 hours late for my next appointment. I should get $100, right?

I won't hold my breath.

I know doctors get backed up, and I am fairly certain the reason this doctor is always so behind is because she spends as long as she needs to with each patient to make sure every question is answered and every concern addressed.

It's that reason that I continue to go to her...but I wonder why they just don't schedule fewer appointments each day!