how come I don’t see anyone but the nurse for two hours?
Because the doctor showed up late.
They overbooked / double booked (maybe with a last minute urgent caller or maybe just because they know they will have so many no shows.)
Maybe the medical assistants called out and the processing time for people is backed up.
Maybe they decided to flirt with a patient or two or took an extra long bathroom break.
Maybe they had a family emergency and had to step out or take a call.
Maybe a patient called in with a critical need and they had to prioritize that because it’s a life and death situation or something.
Maybe they farted and it wasn’t just a fart.
Maybe they don’t like you.
Maybe their car was towed because their medical bills are piling up with insane interest and they weren’t able to work as much as they needed to make the bills the last few months and they needed to take a bicycle
The most common 3 in my experience working in a doctor’s office are:
other patients came late and still were seen.
patients lied about the primary reason for their visit or brought up anxiety/depression issues that you can’t just reschedule.
doctor and a patient got too chatty about something not related to medicine.
For a lot of older people, that appointment may have been the highlight of their week, so I understood some of their desire to talk to everyone for as long as possible.
On the inside the fault will always lie with the customers. I have worked on so many sides of business relationships to know how that bias works so very well.
The reality is that there are countless reasons :)
No, because your schedule change is likely known well in advance, while their delays are happening in real time.
It’s typically not possible to know 2 hours in advance if they’re going to be running 2 hours behind, so they can’t communicate that to you like you can communicate your need to reschedule.
This is true, but if I made an appointment for 9, how come I don’t see anyone but the nurse for two hours?
Seems like the doctor doesn’t have a commitment to take care of my problem at the scheduled time.
Pick one, or many.
The most common 3 in my experience working in a doctor’s office are:
For a lot of older people, that appointment may have been the highlight of their week, so I understood some of their desire to talk to everyone for as long as possible.
On the inside the fault will always lie with the customers. I have worked on so many sides of business relationships to know how that bias works so very well.
The reality is that there are countless reasons :)
So? Do I get to deduct from their bill for failing to meet their commitment?
We all have shit that comes up. Doctors too.
No, because your schedule change is likely known well in advance, while their delays are happening in real time.
It’s typically not possible to know 2 hours in advance if they’re going to be running 2 hours behind, so they can’t communicate that to you like you can communicate your need to reschedule.
Their schedule delays are caused by things happening to other people in real time, so no. That doesn’t fly.
Particularly when the root cause is in fact their employer staffing to maximize profits.