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Long wait in waiting room - what's acceptable?

blueskyeshiningblueskyeshining member
in Austin Babies
I'm having to take DD to the dr. today to get her ears checked. I just called to get an appt. and the only times they have available are during her nap time. I asked if they normally have a long wait time at that time of day because at her well-check last month, we waited 25 min. in the waiting room and another 15 for the dr. once we went back. The time before that we waited almost that long as well.  The receptionist said that we could be waiting another 40 today depending on what comes before us. Honestly, I haven't been super happy with this practice, and I find this wait time unacceptable. When we were at Ped. Associates in Austin, we never waited more than 5 min. in the waiting room. How am I supposed to keep a 17 month old preoccupied for that long in my lap? *frustrated*
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Re: Long wait in waiting room - what's acceptable?

  • MrsAJLMrsAJL member

    I don't know what practice you're with, but I've never waited for 30 minutes total (15 minutes in waiting room and then 15 minutes in the exam room) for a doctor.

    I think if I had to wait longer than that, I would be frustrated too. The problem is that depending on the case and depending on late patients, wait times can get longer as the day goes on.

     

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  • rssnlvrrssnlvr

    We're with a very small practice pedi, and we've waited up to 40 minutes in the waiting room before. It sucked, but when there's so few staff anyway and they have a run of sick kiddos, there's not really any way around it.

    I will say that my pedi is AWESOME at taking all the time we need in the room with us, never making us feel rushed, etc. I'm sure that contributes to some delays since she takes such careful time with all her patients, and for me, the care is worth the sometimes wait.

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  • christym0606christym0606 member
    imagerssnlvr:

    We're with a very small practice pedi, and we've waited up to 40 minutes in the waiting room before. It sucked, but when there's so few staff anyway and they have a run of sick kiddos, there's not really any way around it.

    I will say that my pedi is AWESOME at taking all the time we need in the room with us, never making us feel rushed, etc. I'm sure that contributes to some delays since she takes such careful time with all her patients, and for me, the care is worth the sometimes wait.

    Ditto all this.  It does suck, but I figure that during cold/flu season, wait times are going to be longer than usual, with all the extra appointments needed for sick kids (and quite often, I am one of those needing a last minute appt. for a sick kid). 

    ETA: I usually bring a few books, snacks, and let DD watch videos on my iPhone while we wait.  She's done pretty well despite the long wait times.

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  • mlf625mlf625

    imageblueskyeshining:
    Honestly, I haven't been super happy with this practice, and I find this wait time unacceptable.

    Given that you don't love the practice anyway, I'd switch.  I think waits are worth it if you love the doctor, but with a pedi, I would expect them not to consistently run behind.  We've never waited longer than 15 minutes or so.  Are you south, by any chance?  We loved Pediatric Junction in Buda (Dr. Collins in particular).  It was quicker for us to get to Buda than into downtown, the waits were never lengthy, and she provided excellent care to our kids. 

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  • blueskyeshiningblueskyeshining member

    I know that the wait is due to them seeing all the patients that need to be seen, and that there are certain seasons that are probably worse than others. I guess I'm just frustrated that doctors would make appointments for more patients than they can see. Gosh, that sounds really b!tchy - I want everyone who's sick the opportunity to see a doctor. But if you have such a large case load all the time, you have to find a better way to manage it than consistently running behind. Yes, I don't mind when  my OB/GYN to runs a little late because she's been at the hospital checking up on patients. But with other doctors.... I just feel like, as a culture, we've begun to accept longer and longer wait times. I don't think it's okay. I don't have an answer, but surely there's something better than always having to wait 30 minutes at every doctor. Especially when there's a sign on the counter that if you're more than 10 minutes late, you won't be seen but will be charged. And if doctors are running really behind, I want the receptionist to tell me that when I check in and be apologetic about it. 

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  • fjarilfjaril

    For other doctors, If I don't have an early am appointment, I call and check if the doctor is running behind.

    If it's cold season, I also call the pedi office and check.  I appreciate that they take all the time I want with them and understand someone before me might have had a very long appointment with lots of questions. I wouldn't expect the doctor to only take his/her time with me. I also quite love my current and the Texas pedi we had.

    If I already didn't like the office/pedi and felt like I wasn't getting treated well, then I'd switch.

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