Wait time is making me NUTS

candypantsls

What is your average wait time before you are called back at your doctor's office? I'm talking being called back to do anything, even get weighed, get bloodwork done, take a urine analysis... How long are you chillin' looking at magazines?

Y0urm0m

For me it probably around 10-25 minutes. 

carcrashheart

We go pee in a cup while we wait, so they don't call us back for that. We just know it's part of the deal. I probably wait the same as above to be weighed and get a room (10-25 min). But then I can wait another 15 in the room for the dr. I often have the kids with me and I reach a point where I stop trying to keep them calm and let them have at it. The three of us only have so much patience and they wear it thin by making me end up waiting a good half hour before seeing the dr.

PhoebeJune1984

The place where I go, you have to be checked in 15min before your appointment. If you aren't there by 5min before your appointment, they usually cancel your appointment. I think that saves a of of the wait time, because they aren't waiting on people to show up. I get in there about 0-5min after my appointment is scheduled to start, and then deal with the nurse and all of the prep work, and then sit in the room for MAYBE 5min before my doctor comes in. There has been one time, that I sat in the waiting room for 45min, and then in the room for 30min after the nurse prepped me, but I found out later that a lot of the OB's were out sick. I wasn't even seeing my OB, I was seeing one that could fit me in at the last minute. So that timeframe was pretty much expected. 

WVUPetunia

I voted 0-15, but if she's running back and forth between labor and delivery (on the same floor as the office), it can be longer. I've waited over an hour and half before when she's been in a delivery.

MDmomma1217

My appointments lately have been in the AM, so I've waited less than 15 minutes. Let me get some afternoon appointments and my answer (and my patience) would be different.

Taymiller

Depends on the time of day. If my appt is in the morning no wait, if it is afternoon it is usually a long wait.

pourmeanothermocktail

My prenatals are at the birth center. We sign in, go pee in a cup, weigh ourselves, do a test on our urine, and by then the nurse is there to start the rest of the vitals and such. I haven't even been able to sit down (other than toilet) before I am being taken care of. Then after nurse leaves, maybe 2 min if that before midwife joins us. It's been LOVELY, and that's am or pm appointments.

stillcozy

I go right away it's awesome 

DarkCat

My wait time to see the nurse is about 0 to 15. My appointments are usually in the PM and last time after I got weighted and BP checked my husband and I litterly waited close to 20 to 30 minutes for my midwife. I ended up walking into the hallway and asked how longer it was going to take to find her sitting at a computer and doing paperwork. She sent in another midwife right after that. The whole appointment lasted close to 2 hours because of the delay.

Nerdchild

I always ask for the very first appointment of the morning, 7:30 a.m., arrive 15 minutes early as instructed, and barely have my butt in the seat long enough to warm it. By the time I leave my appointment the other patients haven't even shown up for the 7:45 slot. 

whataboutscience

Last time we had an evening appt. I was 10 minutes early, they called me in 5 minutes early.

HMcDade1

My first appointment was a 3 pm appointment and I still hadn't seen my doctor until 4:30. I had managed to get my blood drawn and urine tested and vitals done. But I was driving home at 5 ish from that apppointment- the rest have been much better but have all been during the day. I refuse to schedule late appointments after that one. It's one thing to wait that long and feel like your doctor rushes over you, it's another for them to genuinely spend time with you during your appointment which is one of the reasons why I love my doctor-- he was with a much younger (teenage) pregnant girl and he took time to answer all of her questions and brought her grandmother in afterwards and spoke to her too ( I could hear them from the hall where I was waiting- I know privacy laws etc but I can't help that )  That was he reason why he was so late. Sometimes you just have to think that they were spending their time on other people that maybe needed it more. That gives me peace of mind when I'm waiting forever. 

stillcozy

Nerdchild said:

I always ask for the very first appointment of the morning, 7:30 a.m., arrive 15 minutes early as instructed, and barely have my butt in the seat long enough to warm it. By the time I leave my appointment the other patients haven't even shown up for the 7:45 slot. 

Same 

foxa319

I've only had to wait once and it's bc I was late and the person who's spot was after me was early! Otherwise I'm usually waiting maybe 2 or 3 mins at the most! 

MrsRo731

I rarely wait more than 10 minutes; there was one instance where my Dr. was delivering a baby and was like an hour late, but that is super rare and really can't be avoided. My practice is only 2 OBs so I consider that pretty good.

trucksntutus

I usually check in 5 mins or so before my apt, and then my wait time is literally nothing. Under 5 minutes most times.

simplymizzj

Nerdchild said:

I always ask for the very first appointment of the morning, 7:30 a.m., arrive 15 minutes early as instructed, and barely have my butt in the seat long enough to warm it. By the time I leave my appointment the other patients haven't even shown up for the 7:45 slot. 

This. I purposely ask for the 1st appointment of the day so I can be in and out without waiting.

fleurdelakeview

I usually wait 10-15 minutes if I have a morning appointment, it may be longer in the afternoon. I've only had to wait a really long time twice - the first time, their computers went down, the second my doc was delivering a baby. 

I agree reed with what PPs have said - asking for the earliest morning appointment is a good way to minimize wait times.

mckcak23

I was really glad at my last apt. I showed up 20 mins early and was taken right away, I did have to wait for awhile in the room for the dr, but I was doing my 1 hour glucose so I was fine with that.  When I was leaving they announced to the waiting room that the dr was running and hour late. 

ach298

At my office you get shuffled around a lot. You only wait in the main waiting room for a few minutes (1-2) and then you go back and typically you get weighed and pee in a cup. Then you are in a new waiting room until your room is available. That might take anywhere from 2 minutes to 10 depending on the time of day. Usually it is closer to 2 min, but I schedule my appointments earlier in the day, like around 9:30. Then you go to the room and the nurse asks you questions, takes vitals, and has you change into a gown if needed. The wait time in the room to be actually seen by the midwife can be longer but is usually less than 30 minutes. 

The he only long wait time (1.5 hours) I have had was due to a power outage in a few of the buildings. A transformer had blown. I was waiting for a ultrasound which they couldn't run on the backup generator so I had to wait.  The office impressed me with their emergency management though. As soon as the staff realized it wasn't going to be fixed in a matter of minutes, they were on the phone rescheduling the upcoming appointments. They offered to reschedule me as well, but I had already gotten a babysitter so I opted to simply wait b

pandamonium20

You guys seem to have more luck than me. My original OB would have me in the waiting room for an hour and then in the exam room for an hour. One appointment was for 830 am and I still had that wait. Then he'd only be in the room for ten minutes. At my third appointment, I switched to a different OB and so far she seems great. I showed up late to my appointment (on accident, had the wrong time) and she squeezed me in in about ten minutes.