What is it with the Doctor”s offices here in Columbus? My question is, “Why do I spend so much of my life in your waiting rooms?” Our lives are important too, some of us have deadlines and other appointments to attend.
We are taking sick leave from our jobs just to sit in your waiting rooms watching folks that come in after us being called back while those of us that made an early appointment, thinking that may have been the problem last time, are still waiting.
I don”t go to the doctor much, but I have my standing appointments that I must attend. Now, I haven”t taken this to the extreme of tracking every minute and logging them so those that are looking for stats and percentages won”t find them here. But I can tell you from personal experience that each time I attend an appointment with a doctor, hematology, orthopedic, cardiology, dentist, I waste more of my time than I care to admit, sitting in the waiting room or exam room.
In one scenario, I had an appointment when the office opened (8 a.m.). I am new to this particular doctor so I fill out paperwork handed to me 30 minutes after I arrived. At 9:15 I left because five people had been called back ahead of me.
Two other offices I have tried late afternoon appointments and early morning appointments because it has taken as much as two hours just to get out of the waiting room … same result, waiting. This is unacceptable! I don”t feel bad at all with a walk-out cancellation, if you just wasted one to three hours of my time.
I am thankful for the health I have and I really feel for the folks that have no choice but to sit and wait because they actually need to see the doctor. It”s just ridiculous the amount of time it takes to get in to see a doctor around here. I think it is a matter of overbooking in anticipation of cancellations. When the cancellations don”t happen, the patients suffer. Am I the only one experiencing this?
Eugene Crown, Vernon, Ala.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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