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Old 7th March 2011, 10:35   #16
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Re: Why do doctors make us wait for Hours?

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Originally Posted by Samurai View Post
. She finally convinces the doctor to decline giving appointments if he can't handle the volume.
Normally it is not the doctor who gives an appointment but their secretaries who do so and they are in theor own sweet world when they give the appointment times. Later when the doctor is unable to handle the long waiting patient the secretary cleanly puts the blame on the doctors. I had once given a sound hearing to one such secretary forcing the doctor to come out of his cabin, later the doctor assured that he will be coming on time, take patients as per appointment and instruct the secretary to stop taking appointments beyond the doctors visiting hours. The doctor here was a pediatrician.
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Old 23rd September 2011, 14:18   #17
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Re: Why do doctors make us wait for Hours?

I know this thread is long dead but i just happened to stumble by it.

Am a dentist and sometimes i too have not been able to keep appointments.the reasons are numerous so i will try to answer each thread one by one.



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Originally Posted by Daewood View Post
The board says he will be meeting patients from 10'0 clock. I wait for half an hour. The place is getting crowded up. No sign of him. I ask the rceptionist to enquire and she calls him. Reply is 20 mins. My son hadn't slept the whole night as he was running high fever. I'm getting tensed. Finally the doc turns up, a good one and a half hours late.

Why do some doctors do this knowing very well that, waiting for hours for an already sick patient is extreme torture?

In this internet and SMS era why can't patient visits be streamlined and planned properly?
Is it because India is woefully short of Docs and there is a huge demand supply mismatch.
Sir,Have you never ever in your life been late?The dr could have been stuck in traffic,there might have been a family emergency,his children might have been sick there are an infinite no.of reasons why he could have been late,but of course,you dont want to hear about it.

i understand the anxiety of a parent,and you are justified but no dr would want a crowd building up if he could help it.

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Let them charge high enough as per their talent and qualification, but this wasting of valuable time of patients is highly deplorable in this 21st century.
It's a hangover of the License Raj era where you had to wait endlessly for everything, be it train ticket, phone connection, etc,etc

Sir, i would love to reduce the no.of patients and increase my fees per patient,but believe me,its plain impoosible in India.

So why dont i just reduce the no.of patients?

Because just like you i have a family to provide for and money doesnt bite me either.


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Originally Posted by lohithrao View Post
This seems to be Universal prob , i mean atleast in India been too many doc who always make u wait for atleast 30mins, for some appointment makes no sense its more like they want to b sure if someone is coming to their clinic though you have a prior appointment you will have to wait for hours and the best part they dont even feel sorry about it...

can say many of them are "arrogant" too! the prob is they have taken it for granted that people need docs so this factor is leading to all this behavior!
No unsuccessful person can be arrogant.



A dr can have pride in the work that he does,but its far from arrogance.There is no special compulsion to see a dr unlike a govt. office where you wouldnt be able to get a job done elsewhere.If the dr is arrogant/bad/rude , there would be no rush in the clinic anyway.




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Originally Posted by ghodlur View Post
I know a couple of doctors in my area who make their patients wait for more than an hour or so. This is because they do consulting job in some super speciality hospitals and then come to their private clinics. This way they make sure that they earn both ways. In spite of this, their clinics would not have proper fan operating, the paint peeled off in places, the sofa's in tatters and lot more eye sores.

.
Sir,if the sofa was in tatters and the fan not operating,why did you have to wait for one hour?why didnt you just walk over to a better furnished clinc with lesser no.of patients?

'Consulting jobs in some super speciality hospital pays'.And the doc like just any human being would not be able to say no to the cash.Its not as if he is doing something illegal or taking a bribe.he is getting paid for the job he does.




.I sometimes have lunch at 3.30-4pm because i dont like to keep patients waiting.Yet a patient would be angry if he turns up at 3.30 and the receptionist tells the doc is havin lunch.Is this the time for havin lunch,asks the irritated patient.So much for remaining hungry.

.A patient might turn up in pain without taking an appointment and i would not be able to say no to a man in pain.He would pay me,but belive me monetary cosiderations are not the only thing that satisfies a dr.i do a little charity,sometimes do not bill poor patients.


Doctors also get tired,get angry,get hungry,have a family,get stuck in traffic,have to visit the kid's school to meet the teacher,take a day of leave on falling sick,visit ailing parents,attend marriages and have some rest after all this.


Dont give respect to a dr,but please be considerate.

Because we,like you,are only human.
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Old 23rd September 2011, 15:35   #18
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Re: Why do doctors make us wait for Hours?

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Am a dentist and sometimes i too have not been able to keep appointments.the reasons are numerous so i will try to answer each thread one by one.
Appreciate your patient replies and your effort to drive home the point that Docs too are humans.

What i meant to ask was why many Doctors who operate from clinics make patients wait endlessly, when they can streamline them efficiently by using simple technology like SMS or something similar, like the Doc i had mentioned in the first paragraph of my post.
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Old 23rd September 2011, 16:35   #19
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Re: Why do doctors make us wait for Hours?

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Appreciate your patient replies and your effort to drive home the point that Docs too are humans.

What i meant to ask was why many Doctors who operate from clinics make patients wait endlessly, when they can streamline them efficiently by using simple technology like SMS or something similar, like the Doc i had mentioned in the first paragraph of my post.
Lets not make this a blog duel.i was just trying to give you a different perspective.

There may be some doctors with lesser no.of patients/higher fees who will be able to keep perfect appointments.But not all of us have this luxury.

Unlike many other fields medical practitioners cant adopt a trial and error method because our errors leaves thru the morgue doors.

Unlike a vehicle assembly plant where the time taken for fixing bolts,doors,panels etc is fixed,the time taken to diagnose a patient's disease,listen to what he has to say,give proper advise,manage complications etc vary vastly and is almost impossible to pre-determine.The finer details are too vast and i would have to put you thru ten years of med school.

hope the points been driven home.If not,a pity,because no matter what, you just wouldnt get it.

Last edited by revintup : 23rd September 2011 at 16:36.
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Old 23rd September 2011, 17:01   #20
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Re: Why do doctors make us wait for Hours?

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Originally Posted by revintup View Post
Unlike many other fields medical practitioners cant adopt a trial and error method because our errors leaves thru the morgue doors.

Unlike a vehicle assembly plant where the time taken for fixing bolts,doors,panels etc is fixed,the time taken to diagnose a patient's disease,listen to what he has to say,give proper advise,manage complications etc vary vastly and is almost impossible to pre-determine.The finer details are too vast and i would have to put you thru ten years of med school.

hope the points been driven home.If not,a pity,because no matter what, you just wouldnt get it.
Please stop treating this like a complex medical conundrum. All you need is an efficient secretary, who knows how to schedule. In US they use scheduling software which does all the time calculation. I don't remember having to wait for more than 10 minutes in US clinics, even for very popular doctors. They respect patient's time. But getting an appointment is not easy, may have to wait for days.

In India you will get immediate appointment, but have to wait hours since the secretary would have given too many appointments and they allow walk-ins even when appointment patients are waiting.

Basically it is a scheduling goof up. If you schedule each patient 30 minutes apart or more depending on your specialty, none of these waiting would occur. Some places they give out token numbers even when you have taken appointment.

Until computerized patient scheduling becomes a norm in India, I don't see how the situation can improve.

Will these ever show up in India? Medical Patient Scheduling Software | Reviews of the Best Systems
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Old 23rd September 2011, 17:46   #21
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Re: Why do doctors make us wait for Hours?

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Dont give respect to a dr,but please be considerate.

Because we,like you,are only human.
All good points here. Im still a new doctor (im an Intern), but us Docs are also human; we have a life too! I think this problem is acute in India because of the sheer volume of patients and the fact that there not nearly enough Doctors to cover everyone efficiently. Im headed home to the US after internship, but ive seen more than enough here and i really do believe a lot of the problems are caused by scheduling goof ups. The bigger "chain" type hospitals are better with scheduling as far as i have noticed (Manipal, Columbia Asia, et al).

Last edited by Samurai : 23rd September 2011 at 17:57. Reason: avoid quoting an entire post when it is long
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Old 23rd September 2011, 21:06   #22
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Re: Why do doctors make us wait for Hours?

There is this IDIOT dentist in 4 bunglows versova,even though there is no patient inside his chamber his peon who will go inside and inform him about arrival of a patient, you will have to wait for at least 15 min. before he will call you.
I did wanted to find out the reason and soon was able o get the answer,it was his shitty AC which he keeps it OFF without any patient and switches it ON only when his peon informs him.hahahahahahahah.
Now when you are inside he will tell you about a patient who was to come but cancelled his appointment and in his place he is attending you.
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Old 23rd September 2011, 21:36   #23
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Re: Why do doctors make us wait for Hours?

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Please stop treating this like a complex medical conundrum. All you need is an efficient secretary, who knows how to schedule.
+1 to that.

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Until computerized patient scheduling becomes a norm in India, I don't see how the situation can improve.

I am a regular at Columbia Asia Hebbal as it is the nearest large hospital for us, they do have a computerised system, but in spite of that patients are made to wait as the hospital wants the maximum patients with limited time and resources, appointments are given for every 15 mins and they allow walk ins too in between the appointments, so what happens is only the first few patients of the day get to meet the doc on time, then there is a back log of patients waiting past their appointed time.
On my last visit, I had to wait for 45 mins before the doc actually came to the hospital, the next half hour was wasted as the Doctor did not have a free room to attend to patients.
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