Doctor Doctor give me the news ...

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

removed

[crookedmember]

They ask you about the nature of your visit so they know how long to book your appointment for. A physical may need a 1/2 hour, while a 'script refill requires 10 minutes. Believe it or not, you are not the only person seeing the doctor that day; people will be booked before and after you grace them with your visit.

And asking for 3 weeks notice on something as predictable as a prescription refill? Unless a patient has trouble counting, that's not an unreasonable request. It leaves them a little breathing room for acute cases that might pop up.

If you still don't understand the workings of the medical office and wish to take your business elsewhere, I'm sure they won't try very hard to keep this "customer."

[Urban Cowboy]

Southy, give your doctors new staff time to know you.
My doctor actually lets me know something like " you have 6 weeks of your prescription left. Would you like to order some now or come back "
When the main receptionist sees me she gives me a smile and often just takes me right to a room to wait.

As for the long wait, a couple months ago my doctor was running around 45 minutes behind.
It wasn't because of her being disorganized, but rather because of one patient having issues that required more time than expected.

I wasn't at all upset because I would rather have a doctor that actually takes the time to listen, and helps me than a doctor who just hands me a prescription and pushes me out the door.
However I only book my doctors appointment on days off, just in case there is a delay.

I'm understanding enough to not let one wait bother me because sometimes chit just happens, but how do you explain an average 45 minute wait, for every one of at least twenty appointments in the last two years?

As I said they don't have emergency type situations there, and about the most time I've ever gotten was five minutes, so just how many appointments do they book in a day?

They are inconveniencing people and doing so knowingly.

[KelownaDavid]

Is anyone else getting fed up with their doctor and staff? I've had the same family doctor for approximately 15 years. This doctor recently joined a group of other doctors and they share receptionists. Having been fairly healthy I haven't needed an appointment for some time. Today I realized I needed some prescriptions refilled so called to make an appointment. One would think that those of us who see doctors can be looked upon as THE CUSTOMER and the DOCTOR and their STAFF as the BUSINESS. That being said … the first thing I'm asked is what is the reason for your visit? I could have given her a dozen different reasons but chose being honest and said I needed some prescriptions refilled. The fact I need refills should tell her that I have some health issues. She goes on to say … "well you know you should give us 3 weeks notice that your prescriptions are running out". Since I neglected to take my happy happy pills I quickly responded with …"I'm not buying it!" I had an appointment for the next day. Why do doctors and staff think they hold all the power and we should jump to their schedule and rules. I guess because if you get fed up and tell them to love themselves finding another family doctor simply isn't in the cards. What happened to the days where doctors and staff respected their patients and the patient came first? Crazy world we live in .. just wonder where it will end. Makes me wonder if doctors only concern is the money and not the patient. I hope not but there are days I really wonder.

my wife not having been to her doctor in a long time, found out that she was booted from their practice. she now has to find a new doctor. is it a money grab to them to make you go in for a check in every 6 months?

[Gilchy]

my wife not having been to her doctor in a long time, found out that she was booted from their practice. she now has to find a new doctor. is it a money grab to them to make you go in for a check in every 6 months?

No. No it is not. GPs in larger cities have a cap on the number of people they can see in a day, and most family physicians are at capacity with patients. They don't need to book people in just for funsies.

Same reason they have a "no-show" fee. If someone doesn't show up for an appointment, the Dr cannot bill MSP and therefore doesn't get paid for that timeslot.

[Sparki55]

my wife not having been to her doctor in a long time, found out that she was booted from their practice. she now has to find a new doctor. is it a money grab to them to make you go in for a check in every 6 months?

No. No it is not. GPs in larger cities have a cap on the number of people they can see in a day, and most family physicians are at capacity with patients. They don't need to book people in just for funsies.

Same reason they have a "no-show" fee. If someone doesn't show up for an appointment, the Dr cannot bill MSP and therefore doesn't get paid for that timeslot.

That doesn't answer why his wife was booted for not going to see her doctor in a long time.

[Bsuds]

That doesn't answer why his wife was booted for not going to see her doctor in a long time.

If there is a limit to the number of patients then why keep someone who never comes to see you.

[dirtybiker]

^^Huh, Like having a relatively healthy patient might somehow be bad for business.

[SuperMom]

They ask you about the nature of your visit so they know how long to book your appointment for. A physical may need a 1/2 hour, while a 'script refill requires 10 minutes. Believe it or not, you are not the only person seeing the doctor that day; people will be booked before and after you grace them with your visit.

And asking for 3 weeks notice on something as predictable as a prescription refill? Unless a patient has trouble counting, that's not an unreasonable request. It leaves them a little breathing room for acute cases that might pop up.

If you still don't understand the workings of the medical office and wish to take your business elsewhere, I'm sure they won't try very hard to keep this "customer."

Up until nearly two years ago, I was perfectly healthy and rarely needed to see my doctor. Over the past two years, I have had the misfortune to need to see my doctor quite frequently, as well as several specialists. I have had to try many different medications during this time, some prescribed by my doctor and others initially prescribed by a specialist which I then need to see my doctor for any modifications or refills. While I understand the reason for booking an appointment to refill prescriptions in advance, this was a tricky thing to do in most of my situations. Some of the meds I tried wouldn't even begin to show a benefit for 7 to 14 days or it could take that long for the initial side effects to settle, but I was only given a months supply to begin with. If I saw my doctor three weeks in advance of running out of that initial prescription, I wouldn't have an accurate idea of how the drug was working for me, if at all. Advanced booking makes complete sense if you have been on the medication for a lengthy period of time, but it isn't ideal if it is a new drug given doled out in small supply.

No doubt that medical offices are busy places, but I have had many negative experiences in the past two years, with the doctor I have had for nearly twenty years. Lengthy waits beyond my scheduled appointment are often the norm, and yet my time with the doctor is exceedingly short. My doctor will repeat the same thing every appointment and then hustle me out the door within 5 minutes. He made many mistakes filling out my medical leave of absence forms, even when I explicitly said what needed to be filled out. Despite several phone calls and personal visits from me and multiple faxes from my insurance company, it took more than two weeks for him to fill out a form I needed for short term disability. I was lectured on "breaking the chain" because I went to a walk-in clinic for a second opinion after he misdiagnosed my injury. But perhaps the worst experience of all was when I made an appointment three weeks in advance and confirmed it two days before, walked into the clinic for my appointment to see nobody waiting and all the MOAs looking at me like deer in the headlights. This was the Friday before Christmas, and I was told that the office was now closed and my doctor wasn't in. When I said that I had a confirmed appointment, they got a little flustered and asked what my appointment was for. I said it was for a prescription refill. They asked if I could wait until after Christmas. I could not, because this was one of those new to me drugs and I was honestly angry that they were oblivious to a confirmed appointment. They showed me to a room, and miraculously, my doctor walked in two minutes later, gave me a prescription and sent me on my way. No apology.

[Jonrox]

I'm understanding enough to not let one wait bother me because sometimes chit just happens, but how do you explain an average 45 minute wait, for every one of at least twenty appointments in the last two years?

As I said they don't have emergency type situations there, and about the most time I've ever gotten was five minutes, so just how many appointments do they book in a day?

They are inconveniencing people and doing so knowingly.

I'm curious to know why you think appointments are consistently late?

Do you think the doctors are lazy and sitting around doing nothing? Or is it that a lot of people need to see doctors but there aren't enough of them, so they do the best they can to see everybody and that leads to overbooking and delays?

If they took fewer appointments, would you be happier potentially having to wait weeks longer between your appointments or maybe not being able to see the doctor at all? Or would the 45 minute wait be a better option?

[my5cents]

With all the doctor bashing (and lots of it deserved), here's a good news story.

Some of you may know about the "My Health Portal". It's an on line system where you can obtain most of your test results and doctor's reports. Also hospital appointments. ie your doctor says he's going to schedule you for a CT Scan. The hospital will likely send you a letter giving you the date and time, but if you are registered with the "My Health Portal", you'll get an email advising you to check the portal and in there will be the information on the appointment before you get the letter.

Also blood test results are contained on there, sometimes as quick as later the same day as the test.

A specialist scheduled a CT Scan for me as a follow-up to surgery, along with the scheduled CT Scan an appointment to see the specialist 3 weeks after the CT Scan. I attended the CT Scan. My family doctor also gets the results of the scan, a week after the scan, when the radiologist had made their report on the scan, I got a phone call from my family doctor's office telling me the results were good. Eased my mind. They didn't have to do that, but it was much appreciated.

[oneh2obabe]

B.C.’s pharmacists can renew a prescription, make changes to an existing one, provide an emergency supply of medication, and check medications you are taking to make sure they're the best ones for you.

https://www.seeyourpharmacist.ca/

[alanjh595]

B.C.’s pharmacists can renew a prescription, make changes to an existing one, provide an emergency supply of medication, and check medications you are taking to make sure they're the best ones for you.

https://www.seeyourpharmacist.ca/

With extreme limitations as to what meds. and what illness.

[oneh2obabe]

B.C.’s pharmacists can renew a prescription, make changes to an existing one, provide an emergency supply of medication, and check medications you are taking to make sure they're the best ones for you.

https://www.seeyourpharmacist.ca/

With extreme limitations as to what meds. and what illness.

As with any profession there are limitations - that's why you ask. Had no problem with the pharmacist preparing an emergency supply - and that's for a med that my doctor had to apply for and receive "Special Authority" from PharmaCare before he could write me a prescription.

[flamingfingers]

Take full advantage of the knowledge and training your pharmacist has acquired. He/she knows more about drugs, interactions, side effects, etc than your doctor does. It is recommended that you use one pharmacy for all your drug requirements so all the information is readily available for any new prescriptions your doctor may give you or enquiries from a hospital, etc.

I never routinely go to my doctor for a prescription refill - I call my pharmacist first. They can check with the doctor for refills if needed and will notify me if the doctor says he won't refill Drug X until he sees me again. The pharmacist will supply me with Drug X until I see the doctor. The pharmacist will also supply meds to cover off when I go on holidays.

You are entitled to one 'Medication Review' by your pharmacist every year, paid by MSP. The pharmacist will go over all of your medications with you and can update you on any newer/cheaper/generic forms that may be to your advantage.

One of my best friends is my pharmacist - make him/her one of yours too!!