MY STORY REVISITED #80-FROM MY WORLD TO YOUR WORLD 
after i quit practicing medicine and retired my medical license i went to the other side
the patients side
even though i am on the pateints side now i will admit that there is an advantage to being a doctor even a retired one
living in the austin area i knew all the different doctors i had to see like primary care urology orthopedic neurology ophthalmology dermatology and cardiology
i either worked with them or referred patients to them so i knew if they were good or now
i wanted good and pleasant
so
i knew when i saw them how competent they were
i also knew to be patient waiting on my appointments
as
more than one was notorious for being late staying on schedule
i knew that and accepted it
since moving to santa barbara i have entered even deeper into your world since i dont have any prior knowledge about any of the providers i see
i do now but before i didnt so i relied like you on word of mouth
so far
so good
below was my perspective almost 9 years ago as i reply to a moms facebook posting about one of the doctors that i chose to see for my care
i knew he was always behind on schedule
but
i knew how competent he was though
so
i chose competence over other things
__________
DOCTOR VS PATIENT
i was a family practice doctor for 30 years
and enjoyed almost every day that i practiced
early in my career i delivered babies took care of icu patients
covered the emergency room for admissions for pediatric
and adult patients took care of sick newborns and pediatric patients
and worked extra in the emergency room
it was a hectic schedule during those earlier years
keeping my office schedule flowing each day was not easy
about 15 years ago i stopped all hospital care and only worked
in the clinic
this made my life less hectic and made my office schedule more
flexible and much easier to flow each day since there were
not all the interruptions from delivering a baby a new icu patient
helicoptering a patient out of the emergency room to a tertiary care
hospital or taking care of a new admission
things were just better in the office the last 15 years
better for me and better for the patient
that said
it sometimes is harder to stay on schedule in the office
the day can be unpredictable
a broken bone an asthma attack sick kids a heart attack
counseling a dying patient counseling a depressed patient
an abused child an abused wife a flu outbreak and all
those other things that can disrupt your day
phone calls lots of phone calls charts labs xray reports lots
of chart reviews
yes
it is hard to stay on schedule almost every day in the office
i spent a lot of time reviewing different schedules and what
made them more efficient and tried to incorporate them into
our schedules
some worked and some did not
i was the guru of scheduling and of insurance coding so that
we would get paid and so that your insurance would pay your
bills
i taught those things to other doctors
so from a doctors view
it is hard to stay on schedule every day
that said
there is no excuse for not starting on time and maintaining some
resemblance of a normal schedule
if you start behind the day only gets worse
some are chronically infected with this disorder
not me
remember if your doctor always always stays on schedule
he she is new he she is not well liked he she is just not busy
he she is in a very competitive market and
maybe he she may not be a good doctor
that should be some type of red flag
i usually stayed on schedule but because of what else can
happen in the day it was hard to maintain it
now im on the other side and sometimes have another perspective
your perspective
my primary doctor i know real well
i chose him
not because he stays on schedule all the time
he may be one of the worse
but because i worked with him for several years
read his charts
saw his patients
saw how he manages patients
sat in medical meetings with him
so i know what kind of doctor he is
hes probably one of the smartest one in the group
he doesnt miss much
and i felt like he would provide the best care for my health problems
that said
hes one of the worst offenders of the being late on his schedule
im willing to accept that
knowing how competent he is
one way i beat the system is for my routine appointments is i
always get the first appointment of the day
that has worked well over the last 3 years usually
another doctor i see is a specialist who is busy and is in
a surgical specialty
i chose him because my patients liked him and because he
had good results from his surgery and treatments
he also had a good bedside manner
but i knew when i went to see him
he would not be on schedule
its usually a 1-2 hour delay when i go in
i accept that because i know ill be getting good care
my ophthalmologist i see i selected for the same reason
however although she is busy she is generally always on time
i know though that she is good
my neurologist i see i selected from her involvement with the
alzheimers research center and the universitys memory clinic
shes always on time with the early appointments but can
be later with a later in the morning or afternoon appointment
again i know she is good
so what triggered all of this is a facebook posting of a former
patient who was left in the waiting room for 30 minutes then
in the exam room for 30 minutes before she was seen
glad i wasnt the one who had to see her
one suggestion to patients
do not piss off the receptionists or the doctors nurse
i repeat dont piss off those two people
make someone else mad at you even the doctor but
not those two people
thats reality thats just the way it is
speaking from years of experience
but if you feel mistreated talk to the clinic supervisor
and or to the doctor
they do listen
its a competitive market now days and administration
listens to complaints
but remember
do praise them when they do good
my suggestion if you are like this person who has experienced
this before
change doctors to one who is more schedule friendly for you
but be choosy whom you see
or accept the delays like i do within reason
i know a busy mom who works has kids who are sick
takes care of most of the work at home doesnt have
a lot of time to be wasting on late appointments
but try earlier appointments in the morning or afternoon
as later in the morning and later in the afternoon things get worse
consider an acute care place for some illness if appointments
arent available and yes complain if lateness is chronic
they do listen
but if you are not happy with them change providers
ive found its not fun on this side of medicine
the patients side
see this blog posting of my recent experience
or
this posting by my blog friend who was in the er
with her sick child and later went to see his doctor
the next morning
i sure wish i could go back to practice medicine now
i would do a lot of things differently
all for the patients benefit
i hope you get your situation with your provider fixed
he is a good one
as
he is my doctor also
but if you cant tolerate the lateness then change providers
there are a lot of good competent ones to choose from
who do a better job on their schedule
just be careful whom you choose
what do you think
__________
so if the doctor i am seeing is behind schedule
i just sigh and say
i remember those days
and
just wait
the organicgreen doctor
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