Do unto others...

I accompanied my wife to a doctor's appointment this afternoon. We walked in and there was a sign on the window that said "The doctor is running at least 30 minutes behind." As we sat in the waiting area I contemplated the often obscene amount of time she has to wait when she goes for an appointment (it was so bad once that I sought someone out and offered to do some customer service consulting with them for free, however, they declined). I succeeded in not getting angry this visit and tried to use the time instead to look at the issue objectively from all sides. This is what I came up with:

The doctor's office makes money by having appointments. The more appointments they can schedule in a day the more money they make. If none of the appointments run over then every appointment will be on time and no one will have to wait. If a patient is late to an appointment it causes the schedule to fall behind. Therefore, the late patient will need to pay a fee to compensate for the potentially lost profit and for inconviencing other patients. If a patient will not be able to make an appointment they will need to give the office sufficient notice to schedule a new patient to replace the lost revenue. This all makes sense to me and seems very reasonable. However, it works on the assumption that no one will be late, no appointment will go over, and nothing will go wrong.

The patient goes to the doctor so that they can receive medical care. The doctor is there as an educated and qualified consultant for the patient. The doctor is to provide a diagnosis and treatment to assist the patient. The patient is paying the doctor (a lot of money) to provide this service therefore the patient is due respect and courtesy. The patient expects to arrive on time for the appointment and to have little to no wait to see the doctor. Visits are often already stressful (for all sorts of reasons) and so the patient would like to get in and out as quickly as possible. The problem here is that the patient assumes (usually unconsciously) that they are the center of the doctor's offices' world. They forget that a doctor's office is a business and that there is a schedule to keep, other patients to be treated, and a real human (the doctor) having to jump from unique situation to unique situation several times an hour.

It is easy to see how miscommunication and frustration can quickly appear between the office and the patient. However, because at no point is the office the customer if there is an issue and someone is going to need to yield the office is going to have to do it (within reason of course). The example that came to me as I began writing this evening was what I started this post with: the sign on the window as we entered the doctor's office ("The doctor is running at least 30 minutes behind"). If the patient is expected to notify the office that they are going to be late and/or pay a fee for being late then shouldn't the doctor's office notify the patient that the doctor is running behind and will be late to the appointment? Maybe the office could give a little discount to the patient if the doctor is behind schedule? Now, I understand that there could be logistical problems to this but it is merely a suggestion. Obviously each office would need to evaluate what it could do for its customers. But let me assure you that if your doctor's office called you to tell you that they were running 30 minutes behind and would give you a discount on your bill (maybe waive half the co-pay?) you would be surprised and pleased that they were that considerate. And from the doctor's office side, I guarantee that your clerk's and secretary's will be doing everything they can to make sure that the doctor is on time to his/her appointments.

Just some food for thought. Enjoy!