Comments on: You will be deleted.

By: Mhari

Mhari — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:53:32 +0000

I don’t know about your doctor, but I know mine would give priority to emergency patients (because I would refer them to him, I’m a nurse) – your doctor might have just slept in, but there could easily be another explanation.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:23:07 +0000

Screw that.

I can’t stand to hear doctors complain. I have showed up for an appointment AT OPENING TIME and had to wait 20 minutes or more.

I don’t buy that it’s “all those bad patients throwing the schedule off”.

By: Ethel

Ethel — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:30:38 +0000

Because they are rude to you whether you are rude to them or not. I’m never rude to someone, it’s not in my nature but It doesn’t stop them talking to me like I’m a piece of dog poo on their shoe. Like I said earlier in the thread, if I spoke to my clients like that I’d be without a job. Even those who think their general health check with their animal is more important that the poor animal that has just been hit by a car, I have to be polite. I don’t see that with doctors receptionists or hospital staff. Just because some people are absolute idiots, and I’ve met my fair share doesn’t mean everyone is and they should treat everyone the same.

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:48:59 +0000

Just as an aside, why don’t patients have more control over their medical records? Why are they still under doctors’ control?

By: Rene

Rene — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 01:15:49 +0000

@Jessi, indeed, it is a small town in Texas. To be fair, being in SE Texas, many of our customers are actually from Louisiana. So…yeeaahhhh… LOL. I completely relate to “the idea” that you had of Portland until you got there. I was absolutely entranced by the history of Texas & then was slapped in the face when I moved here.

By: The Elf

The Elf — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:00:49 +0000

Good luck proving that one! Though if it is, apologies to patients all around and the staff should try to squeeze the “late” patient into the schedule.

By: Joe Blow

Joe Blow — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:21:12 +0000

What if the doctor’s office scheduled it wrong and it was actually supposed to be for 10:30?

By: Marlowe

Marlowe — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 01:55:55 +0000

Could it be that the patients were having a hard time because they were in pain? I went to an orthopedist for severe back pain and his staff made four scheduling errors in three weeks. On my fourth appearance at his office in mid-afternoon, having taken no water, food or pain medication since midnight, I was told that my appointment had been scheduled that morning. Of course, it had not and, after their prior errors, I had called the day before to confirm the date and time. I asked to be fit in and the nice receptionist said that she would ask the doctor. She came back and told me that he did not have time to see me and that I would have to reschedule. I told her that I needed cab fare to get home because my ride (for the fourth time in three weeks) that I was required to have due to the procedure, was running errands and would return in two hours. I had no way to get in touch with him or get home. I was hungry, thirsty and in pain, in a freestanding physicians’ building where I couldn’t get any food. She went to get the office manager who proceeded to tell me three progressive lies about the doctor being too busy to talk to me, the doctor having left the office and she couldn’t contact him and the doctor being on an airplane so she couldn’t contact him. This was all within fifteen minutes of the time that the first receptionist had asked him to fit me in. I walked into the waiting room and told the full room (I thought the doctor was on a flight!) that they should all find another doctor who had a professional staff because anyone who would hire such incompetent people could not be trusted to work on their spines.

One patient followed me downstairs where I had gone to sit, in the cold, on a stone bench, and told me that he had come in for appointment that day and been told that he couldn’t see the doctor because his insurance had not yet paid for his previous treatment. So, they couldn’t have called him that morning?

I found another doctor and wrote bad reviews on every site that I could find. No one should be treated the way I was and to treat sick people like that is unconscionable.

By: Jamoche

Jamoche — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 22:50:57 +0000

My mom nearly had a guy kicked out of the country for line-jumping.

She was a US Customs inspector, he was a very entitled Dallas Cowboy with immigration paperwork that still said he was an LA Ram. If he hadn’t tried to line jump repeatedly (and been pushed to the end of the line every time) she’d have let it slide – these things happen. For that matter, if he hadn’t made a point of saying he ought to go first *because* he was a Cowboy she’d never even have noticed the discrepancy.

But he was an ass so she decided to go 100% by the book, and that paper said he was only allowed to work in the country because he was the only one who could do that specific job for that specific team. The Cowboys had to send lawyers out to the airport at 2AM to get it cleared up.

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 04:34:45 +0000

Or try out “One Medical Group” if they’re open in your city yet. Huge customer service focus and on-time (on the dot!) appointments. They have a membership fee but it’s worth it if you go to the doctor regularly.

By: Aidan O.

Aidan O. — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 00:11:20 +0000

My doctor’s office consistently refuses to communicate with my insurance company, ignores my pharmacy’s calls, says they’ll call in my prescriptions and then doesn’t, lies to me, and charges me for things I shouldn’t be charged for. I don’t know how to get them to do their job without being rude.

I work in food service and love the idea of refusing to serve someone because they’re rude. But the stakes are higher in medicine. We’re not talking about sandwiches. When my doctor’s office doesn’t process the paperwork they’re supposed to, they can seriously fuck up my body. And if you tell me I’m just going to have to go without my medication for a week, yeah, I’m going to be rude to you.

By: Ponytail

Ponytail — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 17:33:42 +0000

I’ve been treated by the NHS for over 40 years and the ONLY receptionists that have been nice to me were the ones who knew my mum in some capacity. GP receptionists are, in my experience, rude, aggressive, full of their own power, and unable to carry out a pleasant interaction. I’ve been misinformed about test appointments, test results, been kept waiting while they left the desk to make tea for themselves, and when I once complained about a practice nurse, was told “Oh yes, we’ve have quite a few complaints about her” and nothing more was said/done. It’s no f-ing wonder receptions here are more glassed-in than betting shops – I wouldn’t assault anyone, but I can imagine other patients would be tempted.

By: Angie

Angie — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 16:50:16 +0000

As someone who spent a LONG time in customer service (10 years total), people who lose their patience are a huge part of why we were so stressed out and would occasionally get flustered ourselves. I always tried to give the best customer service I could (which given my QA scores was certainly excellent), but if you call in with a complicated problem, something that is your own damn fault, or are just being a jerk, it makes it hard for us to do our jobs. Most of us try very hard to be patient and not let it get to us, but if you make no attempt at politeness, it makes it that much harder for us to pretend to give a flying F*#$ about your problem. And sometimes, that exactly what even the best customer service is, a rep pretending they care. Try to be nice to customer service reps. They have a difficult, thankless job dealing with people that think the sun shines out of their arse.

By: H for Toy

H for Toy — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 14:52:58 +0000

You’re right, Rei, but either she felt bad because the lady really was confused about the time of her appointment, or, more likely, she just didn’t want the confrontation. Though, I agree with Elf. It should be the responsibility of the staff to ask the late patient to either wait or reschedule.