Case of the overbooked doctor

Customer service and doctor's offices are not usually something that people mention in the same sentence, however, it needs to be.  Although many times, we go to doctors because they are "in plan", there are still choices.  We can choose to go to the doctor that respects his patients' time by keeping to their scheduled appointment.  While it is understandable that occasional emergencies occur, that should be the exception and not the norm.  It's also understandable that doctors need to schedule tightly because insurance pays less and less and they have to deal with cancellations, it's not understandable that their patients are expected to wait an hour or two past their appointment time.

Recently we drove into New York City to see a "specialist".  We called before we started the one hour drive to find out whether the doctor was on time or not.  We were told that he was.  We arrived at our scheduled appointment time and was not taken into the office until over an hour later.  We later found out that the doctor's staff was scheduling up to six patients for the same appointment time.  This was inexcusable and has caused us to find another "specialist" closer to home.

What could make it better?

1) The doctor's staff could recognize the fact that no one can legitimately expect to see more than one person at a time.  Even if they want to account for cancellations and no-shows, six per appointment is unrealistic and only guarantees failure.  They should evaluate how many patients the doctor DOES average in a day and how much time he DOES average with each patient and schedule accordingly.  This is simple mathematics and can be gleaned from historical records kept.  It will make patients happier because they are seen on time and the doctor happier because they will not always be playing beat the clock.

2) The doctor's staff could be honest about whether or not the doctor is running on time when patients call in.  If they want to be even more proactive, they could call patients and let them know when a doctor starts to fall more than 30 minutes behind.  They could verify the patient is coming and give them a revised arrival time to reduce waiting and stress.

This type of unintentional arrogance is common in the medical field.  It's a result of falling compensation and growing demand.  Neither of these is an excuse for poor customer service.  In fact, good customer service and appropriate scheduling will result in more patients, more referrals, and happier doctors.