Friday Brian called the doctor to see about making an appointment for himself. Nope, no dice. The doctor leaves at noon. Okay, I can see that. Lots of doctor's offices close early on Friday.Brianna had been coughing for several days and, over the weekend, it seemed to get worse. I started to take her to the quick care place, but I really wanted her to see her doctor (who's also our family doctor). So, I called Monday mid-morning (about 10:30...because, you know, we're on Christmas break now and we sleep late). The conversation went something like this:
Office Personnel: Nope, nothing open today; it'll have to be tomorrow.
Me: You don't have anything at all open today?
O.P.: No, Dr. X leaves at noon and it's already 10:30.
Me: He leaves at noon? Every day?
O.P.: Yes.
Me: Well...never mind (pause, trying not to say what I really wanted to say, then, giving up...), no, really; that must be the life. I almost took my daughter to the quick care yesterday, but I wanted her to see her regular doctor. What about one of the other doctors in the practice?
She finally offered to schedule us with the nurse practitioner. As soon as I got off the phone, I called Brian to see if he was aware that Dr. X goes home at noon every day. He wasn't.
When we got to the office, I asked the lady at the front desk, "So, Dr. X goes home at noon every day?"
"Yes," she replied, "and he's off on Thursdays."
Seriously?? I mean, the guy is nowhere near retirement age. So, he's built his practice up so much that he only has to work 16 hours a week? What about his patients? He can't honestly expect all of his patients to be best served by 4 hours a day, 4 days a week -- especially during cold and flu season. Oh, and before you try to defend him, no, he doesn't do his own hospital rounds.
Is this the norm now? Does your pediatrician/family doctor work part-time hours? I'm seriously thinking of finding a new doctor. We rarely ever schedule appointments before lunch. We'll never see him again, so what's the point in staying with his practice?
Our doc has pretty regular (FULL) working hours. We specifically chose this practice because it also has Saturday hours, and it always seems that Murphy's Law dictates the children get sick on a Saturday when nothing is open!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your doc might be the exception rather than the rule, BUT can you imagine what things will be like if this healthcare bill passes??!
Ours works full days 4 to 5 days a week. He works Tues-Friday (7-6) and the 3rd Saturday of the month. When he works Saturdays he works from 7 am to noon. He also have one day during the week where he works to 8 pm.
ReplyDeleteThese are his hours, but sometimes he's not in the office because he's doing hospital rounds. So sometimes we can't see him like we like, bu there are 6 other doctors in the office and so if we can't see ours we can at least see one of the other ones.
WOW!! That is ridiculous!! If I found that out, I'd really think of switching. That's insane!! Our peds doc has two offices and he's always at one or the other. Thank God he's mostly at the one near us. As for our adult doc :), the office opens at 11 on Mondays. That drives me crazy, cuz if we're suffering all weekend, we can't call first thing in the morning. But he's there all day. So really, we are blessed.
ReplyDeleteWow. Now THAT'S the life. He must not need to pay off any med-school loans! :) Or maybe he's moonlighting as a grocery bagger in the afternoons?
ReplyDeleteWe love our pediatrician's office. The lady who answers her phones is always pleasant and helpful. The nurses will call you back very quickly if you need them. The doctor works her butt off. She shares a practice with one other doctor who is out for a few months due to some surgery she had...and so our poor doctor is running ragged lately, but still cheerful and happy to see a sick child if needed. We're blessed to have her. My sister spent a few years with a ped. who didn't even have humans answering her phones. She's have to leave a message and hope someone called her back.
Our family doc, who sees the hubby, oldest son and I, has been my doctor since I was eleven. He treats my grandparents, sister, mom, everyone! If he ever retires, I probably won't go to another one...he's just so caring and nice. Now, he DOES take all of Wednesday off and he leaves early on Fridays, but he has a small pratice and we never have trouble getting in to see him.
Wow, that sounds like the life! But I agree with you, I think it might be time to find another practice. No point in staying there if chances are you'll never see him.
ReplyDeleteThankfully we have a great doctor who works his little behind off trying to take care of his patients. When I call and they tell me he is on vacation, or taking a day off, it's almost a relief that man works so hard.
I would definately be outta there. Our Dr is worthless also. We had one of the best Drs in the country and a few years back she was promoted to a high honor position. I so miss her. Although we still speak every so often. So nice to have her check in on us.
ReplyDeletesince she has been gone they rotated us until we got a dr, I was ticked, ready to go but insurance caused us to stay. This Dr we have now is a lowlife I am only here for the $. You make a visit and then see her she wont diagnose you or give you a prescrip right away so you have to come back when you are worse. Another appointment more $ to pay out. I usually schedule later in eve with the nurse who will diagnose and treat the situation right away. If antibiotic is needed she will write a prescrip. Drs today are not like they used to be. So many are loss causes. We are waiting for new health insurance to kick in and we are outta here.
No our kids see a family Dr. and he is great. They pretty much always can work us in. He closes early on Friday only. He has even seen us on his lunch break or extended his hours. He does take spring break and such off because he has five kids.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm in the wrong job!
ReplyDeleteOh my stars and garters! That really is one LONG lunch hour each day! ;)
ReplyDeleteMy regular Dr only works till noon, and is off on Fridays, but she is a mother of two children, and schedules her work hours around their school schedules. I am okay with it :) I appreciate that her family is important to her, as mine is to me.
ReplyDeleteKris- Three words... Pediatric Diagnostic Associates.
ReplyDeleteOur doctor is a full-time doc, but we don't always get to see her - she's rather young and just building her practice. The nurse practitioner is fine for the occasional cold.
ReplyDeleteYou do have my curiosity piqued, though. I would love to know what he does with his time. It could be that he's just independently wealthy and has no med school bills. He could also be volunteering some of his time.
@ MiaZagora -- Given the snippy way the receptionist answered me, I'd vote for independently wealthy. However, since I've always liked and respected our doctor and have recommended him to family and friends for years, perhaps I should give him the benefit of the doubt.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what our doctor's are, but if you don't call at 8AM sharp when they open you get stuck with a PA. Si I'm guessing they have abbreviated hours also or too high a patient/doctor ratio.
ReplyDeleteWe just lost our favorite doctor. He was Fox's attending doctor in the emergency room one night, we fell in love with him and switched practices to follow him. We had him for 4 or 5 years. He recently left to work emergency room only. :( I don't like his replacement, we're looking for a new doctor.
A family member of mine works in a doctor's office. She is appalled because one of their doctors regularly goes golfing and doesn't come back for hours even though he has patients scheduled. The attendants lie and say he's behind schedule or late due to performing surgery.
I would say this doctor does not represent the norm...
ReplyDeleteWe go to the county health department, and though we have to wait a while, the doctors are amazing, and our pediatrician even offered to come to our home if we need. Hope you find a doc you're satisfied with!!
When I was working, I was in the office 3 1/2 days a week with 2 mornings at a nursing home (for a total of 4 1/2 days per week) until I went part-time when I worked 2 1/2 days in the office and 1 morning in the nursing home. I was part of a practice that included 10 family docs and several mid-level providers. We also had a doc each day designated "on-call" to handle admissions and as many as the acute problems as possible.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, more and more docs are trying to get to a more livable situation as possible. When I worked 4 1/2 days per week, I regularly put in 60+ hours. Even part time, I was working well over 40 hours. A doc who only works mornings may still see patients elsewhere in the afternoon (like a nursing home) and I'm sure has several hours of paperwork to deal with. Or maybe just doesn't need much in the way of income.
If his schedule isn't working for you, then you may need to find another practice. It is common for physicians and mid-level providers to work together, particularly having the mid-levels see acute problems. Now that I'm not working, I pretty much plan that we will see a mid-level except for scheduled physicals. And this is fine with me because I know that there is great communication within the practice. The main thing is that you need to trust whoever you work with.
Just my 2 cents!!
Catherine
Our pediatrician only works four days a week, but they're full 9-5 days, and we can see one of the other doctors in the practice if she's not available. I actually don't love her (she's knowledgeable, but doesn't have the warmest bedside manner and tends to over-prescribe antibiotics IMO) but the office is really conveniently located, and with an only child who's pretty healthy overall, we only end up seeing her 2-3 times a year at most.
ReplyDeletemaybe he splits cares for his kids with is partner and his shift is the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteThis only came to me after reading Spooky's comment about her female doc. No reason a male doc can't do the same.
(c&p from my FB comment on this post/note there)
ReplyDeleteBen works from 7 ish till 6ish MTThF. W is his "half" day when he gets off sometime after 2is usually, never sooner. When he's on call on a weekend he often puts in the same hours (7am-6pm) both days plus gets paged at home.
Our ped works 4 days/ week, full days, plus rotates call with his group. He also does his own rounds.
If your dr is working those hours he must not have any med school loans!!! Drs only get paid for what they do/bill insurance for (unless they work for an HMO or hospital on salary) if he needs to only work those hours to meet his needs- well it sucks for you, but kinda cool for him. (wish Ben could work a few hours less).
Yeah, that would annoy me as well. Has he only recently changed his hours/days....or do you not have to see the doctor often? I'd suggest talking to the office manager about the snippy receptionist, although she may have the same attitude. I'd definitely find another doctor who is available when needed!
ReplyDeleteOur ped. office is a group of about 6 or more doctors. But they ask that you pick one as your child's primary physician and try to schedule as much as possible with that doctor and then fill in as neccessary with the others in case of emergency.
They have really good hours 8-6. But have emergency walk in hours on Saturday and Sunday.
He's been our doctor for over 14 years. He has dual-specialties -- internal medicine and pediatrics -- so our whole family sees him. We don't go to the doctor terribly often, so I'm not sure how long these hours have been in place or if there is some reasonable explanation.
ReplyDeleteAfter having time to think about it and get over the shock, I don't know that we'll change offices -- like I said, we don't really go to the doctor that often anyway -- and I guess I'll just try to remember to schedule in the mornings if I really want to see him.
Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here.
ReplyDeleteI can understand if you switch to a doctor that better serves your needs, but I cannot fathom why anyone would be annoyed at this doctor because he chooses to work less than 40 hours a week.
Where is it written that everyone must work 40 hours a week? I would be very happy if MY husband was able to do that.
He may have some very good reasons for limiting his hours, and thereby limiting his income. Perhaps his family needs him. Perhaps he does charitable work. Perhaps he has no reason other than wanting to spend his time as he wishes.
He has the free choice to work when he wants, you have the free choice to go elsewhere. That is the kind of freedom we should all embrace, not condemn!
Yikes! I'd be talking to my girlfriends about what doctors they liked, and why they liked them. Those hours wouldn't work at all for us, and I've switched for less in the past. The doctor, though they often forget it, is your employee, not the other way around. You probably pay quite a bit, between copays and insurance payments, for their services. If you're not getting what you need, then take your business elsewhere. Obviously, there is something in his life that's more important than doctoring!
ReplyDeleteMost insurance companies (the big ones like BCBS and Aetna) require their participating physicians to schedule appointment within 24 hours of you calling (not speciailists, but the primary ones like family doc, ped, and internists). If they were booked the morn you called and he was off the next day, they would have to "squeeze" you in the morn you called. If he wasn't off the next day, then they would have to gice you appt the day you called or the next. You might want to remind him of that.
ReplyDeleteOur pediatrician has regular hours and he rotates being on call and has some Saturday and evening hours. I love our pediatrician. I don't love his office staff or the nurse who returns phone calls; they could all use a lesson in customer service and common sense. They could also take preventative measures to protect otherwise healthy kids from the nasty stuff going around. I don't appreciate taking a child in for a bladder infection and finding out that, no, they don't sanitize the rooms between patients, so the kid in the just before us may have had swine flu (but we can't get an appointment with chicken pox because that's dangerous to expose others to.) WHA??? Does that make any sense at all? Not what the doctor said, but that's the nurse and office staff.
On the other hand, my internist does work part-time. He only works 12-5 and is off on Wednesdays. He works some Sat morns. We knew this when we chose him and he was semi-retired. Unfortunatly, we have to choose a new doctor Jan1 because he is officially retiring. I don't like having to choose a new doctor!
I know I'm late on this, but I HAD to come over and grinch about it with you!
ReplyDeleteThis has been eating my lunch for about 3 years now. That was about the time I noticed our doctor (previous town) no longer was able to get patients in the day they called, NO MATTER HOW EARLY you called.
When we moved to our new town, about a year ago, the same thing happened, but they want us to schedule 2 DAYS OUT!!!
I have said before in very terse tones, "Are you telling me someone with an ingrown toenail can't be pushed back 15 minutes so the doctor can see my child who has a fever of 102 with flu like symptoms?!"
Ridiculous!