Does you doctor's office call to remind you of appt?

[Ramblin Man]

Just wondering how many of you go to doctors who don't call to remind you of appointments.

I made an appointment with a shrink to see if he could help me with my fear of doctors (funny, eh).

He's so busy he can't see me for three weeks so I make an appointment. In the mean time I've seen two other medical doctors who have great bedside manners and are very paceint and understanding and make me realize that a lot of my problem isn't with doctors, but my now ex-GP who scared the **** out of me every time I had to see her. Beyatch.

Anyway, I get reminder calls the day before each of those appointments, but today I realize the appointment for the shrink was on Wednsday. I call them to check and yes i missed it and will be billed for the missed appointment.

I asked the receptionist if they make reminder calls like EVERY other doctor I've ever been to does? The reply? "we see over 100 people a day and don't have the man power to make those calls". You might want to let people know that when they make their appointments. Especially when they are three weeks out, I say and hang up.

******* doctors. They are like dealers. The good ones are great but few and far between, the rest give the good ones a bad rep.

 

[Groo]

Yes, I think all of our doctors, dentists, optometrists, voodoo, aromatherapy, you name it... call to confirm the appointments.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Just wondering how many of you go to doctors who don't call to remind you of appointments.
I made an appointment with a shrink to see if he could help me with my fear of doctors (funny, eh).

He's so busy he can't see me for three weeks so I make an appointment. In the mean time I've seen two other medical doctors who have great bedside manners and are very paceint and understanding and make me realize that a lot of my problem isn't with doctors, but my now ex-GP who scared the **** out of me every time I had to see her. Beyatch.

Anyway, I get reminder calls the day before each of those appointments, but today I realize the appointment for the shrink was on Wednsday. I call them to check and yes i missed it and will be billed for the missed appointment.

I asked the receptionist if they make reminder calls like EVERY other doctor I've ever been to does? The reply? "we see over 100 people a day and don't have the man power to make those calls". You might want to let people know that when they make their appointments. Especially when they are three weeks out, I say and hang up.

******* doctors. They are like dealers. The good ones are great but few and far between, the rest give the good ones a bad rep.

Some do and some don't. A lot depends on how busy their practice is. But also, in psychiatry, a lot of people aren't really serious and waste time: in one way it is a test of how committed the patient is, ESPECIALLY for a new patient appointment. Most institutions (VA, County mental Health, etc.) do not have the manpower to call every patient every time. Some patients are assigned case management if they are really sick (head injury, serious psychosis, etc.) to help them get in. But the walking wounded -- generally not.

And by the way, my PCP does not call to remind me, and charges $15 if I miss it (once I was 10 minutes late and he said tough.....).

And a three week wait for a specialist is not outrageous. I had to wait three months for an audiologist appointment, no call or reminder and missed it. Three months later...yup missed it again. I gave up.

You may not like the answers, just my experiences in the business for 20 years.

 

[FJRocket]

As a rule, I don't call to remind my patients. What I've found over 20 years of practice is that you don't gain much by reminding people over the phone. IOW, what we found was that we had nearly the same number of no-shows with reminder calls as without. So why waste the staff time. Yes, even people we reminded didn't show, and statistically about the same number as when we didn't call.

I do have patients that specifically request to be reminded, and as a courtesy to them, I certainly accommodate them. Most of the time, just by them requesting a call jogs their memory enough that they probably would never miss anyway, and in fact often acknowledge that on the phone.

My opinion is that if you make an appointment with me for my services, you took the initiative to have me reserve a block of my time for you, and you are responsible for keeping your appointment. If you forget or cancel at the last minute, or just decide not to show, my time is usually completely lost. If I don't work, I don't get paid, plus you often deny other patients from getting treatment they want and need, sometimes rather urgently, in a timely fashion. It's irresponsible on many levels to make a committment, then not keep it.

I think you'll find that practices differ all across the spectrum. Most (if not all) practice management gurus will insist that offices call to remind patients. Some practices have to have that slight financial edge of keeping their clinics full to maximum to generate the biggest bucks. Many staffs are paid bonuses based on gross or net production, and do their best to keep the schedule packed. That often leeds to overbooking, long waits in the office and an overly stressed clinic staff. I choose not to practice that way, and I also don't like being a patient under those circumstances.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

As a rule, I don't call to remind my patients. What I've found over 20 years of practice is that you don't gain much by reminding people over the phone. IOW, what we found was that we had nearly the same number of no-shows with reminder calls as without. So why waste the staff time. Yes, even people we reminded didn't show, and statistically about the same number as when we didn't call.
I do have patients that specifically request to be reminded, and as a courtesy to them, I certainly accommodate them. Most of the time, just by them requesting a call jogs their memory enough that they probably would never miss anyway, and in fact often acknowledge that on the phone.

My opinion is that if you make an appointment with me for my services, you took the initiative to have me reserve a block of my time for you, and you are responsible for keeping your appointment. If you forget or cancel at the last minute, or just decide not to show, my time is usually completely lost. If I don't work, I don't get paid, plus you often deny other patients from getting treatment they want and need, sometimes rather urgently, in a timely fashion. It's irresponsible on many levels to make a committment, then not keep it.

I think you'll find that practices differ all across the spectrum. Most (if not all) practice management gurus will insist that offices call to remind patients. Some practices have to have that slight financial edge of keeping their clinics full to maximum to generate the biggest bucks. Many staffs are paid bonuses based on gross or net production, and do their best to keep the schedule packed. That often leeds to overbooking, long waits in the office and an overly stressed clinic staff. I choose not to practice that way, and I also don't like being a patient under those circumstances.

What he said :clapping:

 

[twowheelnut]

Call me wacky, but if I ever got a bill in the mail for a missed appointment, I'd bill the mofo for my wasted time spent in his/her waiting room. In my zany world, if you make an appointment, be there. If you make it for x:00, don't show up at x:10 or x:15 or x:30. If you're gonna miss it or be late, pick up a frickin' phone. To do otherwise is just plain inconsiderate.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Call me wacky, but if I ever got a bill in the mail for a missed appointment, I'd bill the mofo for my wasted time spent in his/her waiting room. In my zany world, if you make an appointment, be there. If you make it for x:00, don't show up at x:10 or x:15 or x:30. If you're gonna miss it or be late, pick up a frickin' phone. To do otherwise is just plain inconsiderate.

In my particular case TWN, I was tied up with a suicidal patient and needed to make sure they were taken care of first. my appointment was just a few blocks away and it wasn't on the top of my mind at that moment. Appology accepted.

 

[twowheelnut]

None offered. Climb down off your pedestal, wouldja? Sheesh! The 'tudes some of you dudes have... Your scenario is off topic. I suppose if, as a firefighter busy dowsing a fire and I missed my appointment, you'd still bill? See? Off topic.

 

[Geezer]

All of my family doctors and dentists call to remind. The way it helps in my house is that the call is usually answered by someone other than the person with the appointment and is followed by a personal face-to-face reminder. It helps.

My doctor charges a small fee for a missed appointment, not full charges. My dentist does not charge.

 

[6mmbr]

you sit in the waiting room cause the ***** in front of you has to tell me about aunt gertie's warts or some ****. I have to look interested otherwise its bad bedside manner.

Note to pt: I don't give a **** about the rest of your extended family.

Tell me why you're here and what the problem is and then shut up.

There, now I feel better; been wanting to say that for along time.

Not to "hippocratic" but that's a myth anyway along with the secret handshake.