Let’s cap fees doctors can charge for missing an appointment. Since doctors seem to want to schedule months out sometimes shit comes up and we don’t know our schedule months away.
I mean, if you have other shit going on that day, it’s kinda on you to cancel or reschedule your appointment before whatever cutoff they have instead of just not going.
You made the commitment to be at your appointment at the scheduled time, and if you no show that’s time that could have been spent seeing another patient and money they can’t make because of your actions.
I’ve never had an issue if something came up the day of and I needed to reschedule, as long as I called the moment I knew I might not make it.
how come I don’t see anyone but the nurse for two hours?
Because the doctor showed up late.
They overbooked / double booked (maybe with a last minute urgent caller or maybe just because they know they will have so many no shows.)
Maybe the medical assistants called out and the processing time for people is backed up.
Maybe they decided to flirt with a patient or two or took an extra long bathroom break.
Maybe they had a family emergency and had to step out or take a call.
Maybe a patient called in with a critical need and they had to prioritize that because it’s a life and death situation or something.
Maybe they farted and it wasn’t just a fart.
Maybe they don’t like you.
Maybe their car was towed because their medical bills are piling up with insane interest and they weren’t able to work as much as they needed to make the bills the last few months and they needed to take a bicycle
Or most likely of all for a wait of that magnitude: their employer forces them to cram more patients than they should into a short time, and it turns out not every medical issue falls into nice little predictable fifteen minute block, and someone or multiple people earlier than you had major issues to be sorted.
Also common: patients earlier than you showing up late but their employer forces them to see patients even if they got there with only a minute of their appointment left and now it throws off everyone’s appointments for the entire rest of the day
Also who’s actually charging late fees? Most places the policy is to fire you from the clinic for ~3 no shows
People here acting like a doctor is just sitting in the back twiddling their thumbs laughing while you wait. They just want to see everyone and get home, they don’t want to be seeing people late either, but stuff happens.
$50. Mine certainly does and I have only truly screwed up once. I got hyper focused and lost track of time. I don’t get too upset over it though. Policy is policy…
No, because your schedule change is likely known well in advance, while their delays are happening in real time.
It’s typically not possible to know 2 hours in advance if they’re going to be running 2 hours behind, so they can’t communicate that to you like you can communicate your need to reschedule.
The most common 3 in my experience working in a doctor’s office are:
other patients came late and still were seen.
patients lied about the primary reason for their visit or brought up anxiety/depression issues that you can’t just reschedule.
doctor and a patient got too chatty about something not related to medicine.
For a lot of older people, that appointment may have been the highlight of their week, so I understood some of their desire to talk to everyone for as long as possible.
On the inside the fault will always lie with the customers. I have worked on so many sides of business relationships to know how that bias works so very well.
The reality is that there are countless reasons :)
The system is overwhelmed and you are scheduled months out because there are so many people waiting ahead of you. If you cancel appropriately that spot can be given to someone else that is waiting. As a patient I want higher punitive fees on people that don’t cancel appropriately - not to stick it to them but to encourage them to actually call ahead and cancel so more spots can open up.
This is not the same as junk fees.
My doctor cancelled on me and pushed my appointment back 30 days, oh by the the way, your referral expires before your next appointment now… Fucking hell.
Let’s cap fees doctors can charge for missing an appointment. Since doctors seem to want to schedule months out sometimes shit comes up and we don’t know our schedule months away.
I mean, if you have other shit going on that day, it’s kinda on you to cancel or reschedule your appointment before whatever cutoff they have instead of just not going.
You made the commitment to be at your appointment at the scheduled time, and if you no show that’s time that could have been spent seeing another patient and money they can’t make because of your actions.
I’ve never had an issue if something came up the day of and I needed to reschedule, as long as I called the moment I knew I might not make it.
This is true, but if I made an appointment for 9, how come I don’t see anyone but the nurse for two hours?
Seems like the doctor doesn’t have a commitment to take care of my problem at the scheduled time.
Pick one, or many.
Or most likely of all for a wait of that magnitude: their employer forces them to cram more patients than they should into a short time, and it turns out not every medical issue falls into nice little predictable fifteen minute block, and someone or multiple people earlier than you had major issues to be sorted.
Also common: patients earlier than you showing up late but their employer forces them to see patients even if they got there with only a minute of their appointment left and now it throws off everyone’s appointments for the entire rest of the day
Also who’s actually charging late fees? Most places the policy is to fire you from the clinic for ~3 no shows
People here acting like a doctor is just sitting in the back twiddling their thumbs laughing while you wait. They just want to see everyone and get home, they don’t want to be seeing people late either, but stuff happens.
$50. Mine certainly does and I have only truly screwed up once. I got hyper focused and lost track of time. I don’t get too upset over it though. Policy is policy…
So? Do I get to deduct from their bill for failing to meet their commitment?
We all have shit that comes up. Doctors too.
No, because your schedule change is likely known well in advance, while their delays are happening in real time.
It’s typically not possible to know 2 hours in advance if they’re going to be running 2 hours behind, so they can’t communicate that to you like you can communicate your need to reschedule.
Their schedule delays are caused by things happening to other people in real time, so no. That doesn’t fly.
Particularly when the root cause is in fact their employer staffing to maximize profits.
The most common 3 in my experience working in a doctor’s office are:
For a lot of older people, that appointment may have been the highlight of their week, so I understood some of their desire to talk to everyone for as long as possible.
On the inside the fault will always lie with the customers. I have worked on so many sides of business relationships to know how that bias works so very well.
The reality is that there are countless reasons :)
The system is overwhelmed and you are scheduled months out because there are so many people waiting ahead of you. If you cancel appropriately that spot can be given to someone else that is waiting. As a patient I want higher punitive fees on people that don’t cancel appropriately - not to stick it to them but to encourage them to actually call ahead and cancel so more spots can open up. This is not the same as junk fees.
I’d rather have $20 per hour that a doctor keeps me waiting.
My doctor cancelled on me and pushed my appointment back 30 days, oh by the the way, your referral expires before your next appointment now… Fucking hell.