1. Be on time for your appointment. Don't come in 10 min late - or even later in the day 'because I knew you would still be there'. Our offices run pretty much on time. If they don't and it is our fault, your copay that day is zippo. If it is an emergency, we will tell you and you should feel lucky we are seeing emergencies should you ever need us during one.
2. When booking your appointment, make sure you tell the person making the appointment what you are coming in for. We book according to this. Don't add things. When you do, you back up the entire schedule. In our office, you will be given another appointment to discuss the other 'issues' you have. On the same token, we will only see the person assigned that appointment time. Do not bring another child or adult to just 'take a peek or discuss'. We don't do it. They need their own appointment.
3. Have respect for people standing at the desk waiting to check out. Don't barge through them and yell that you are here. I have pretty good eyes and I know all my patients. I will finish what I was doing and then acknowledge you. No cutting in line (which brings me to #4).
4. Do not arrive early for your appointment expecting to be taken early. It will not happen. This screws up a schedule more often than naught. This is especially frustrating when you arrive an hour early and the office isn't even open yet and you then complain you had to stand in the cold/rain/snow/sun/whatever. If the office does not open until 2PM and your appointment isn't until 2:30PM don't expect to come and sit in the waiting room. We are closed. Then you will also complain that you were at the doctor's office for 2 hours when in reality, you were 90 minutes early and you saw the doctor for the other 30.
5. Never ever ever tell me the doctor can see you during his lunch hour when I just told you I had no more openings for today. The doctor works on the average of 14 hour days. The half hour to hour lunch time is for him to sit, put his feet up, and eat. Not to see you. He had breakfast and won't be getting dinner for another 8-10 hours. His lunch hour is sacred and non-touchable.
6. I find it interesting that people will wait to have their car fixed, the plumber to come, the air conditioner people to get there, and take a delivery during a 4 hour span....yet complain if they have to wait 30 minutes for a doctor. Ummm...excuse me...which one of the above will allow you to wait 3-6 months for payment for that visit/repair/etc and see you for nothing that day and then have the unmitigated gall to complain about our prices? Practice patience. We earn nothing that a whole lot of other people earn per hourly basis. Remember we take calls all night long.
7. If you are bringing your gaggle of kids to the office, you will be handed a mop, broom, vacuum, etc. I do not have time to watch your children. I do not have time to clean up after them. That is your responsibility. Do not assume they will be kept quiet while eating food in the office. Food is not allowed in the office for sanity sake. If it is brought in - you clean it up. Our office is kept clean for a reason. If they can't sit still without touching anything, don't bring them.
8. Do not open every drawer in the room you are placed. Do not take items out of the drawers. We will pass those expenses on. We check the rooms after each visit. We know who did it and we will bill you.
9. Know your own insurance. I am seeing you for the first time. I don't know you nor your insurance policy. All are different. If something isn't covered don't act surprised then complain about your bill. It is your insurance not mine. It is not my responsibility to know things that are not covered. It is yours. Don't complain or ask for a co-pay or deductible waiver. This will never ever happen. I signed a contract with your insurance company already to take a reduced rate to see you. That copay and deductible and coinsurance are your portion. That is what you signed up for and you agreed on. Again, it is your insurance. Don't complain to me how they paid.
10. Do not act like a doctor when you do not know what you are talking about. Do not tell the doctor what pills you want or what you think is wrong. You are going to a professional. Be mindful of that. Ask questions. Most doctors are not afraid to answer them. If you want to dictate your care, get a degree. Otherwise leave it to a professional.
I am sure I can come up with hundreds more. But most important, even as a health care worker myself, I refuse to wait for any longer than an hour for any doctor. My time is just as valuable as yours. I have walked out and found a new doctor. They are there. I have also walked out of doctor's offices when the doctor refused to answer my questions on why a certain test was being ordered or why he wanted to do something. If they can't explain it, they are not my doctor. I have also walked out if the doctor was great but the office staff were the rudest people I had ever seen and I let the doctor know why I am not coming back - in a certified letter with restricted delivery so only he can sign for it.
Out of all the different types of doctors I have ever seen (I have been to every speciality), the worst I will say are the oncologists. I went through 3 oncologists before I found one who respected my time was not going to be spent in his office waiting on him because I had cancer and therefore no choice and it didn't matter - I was going to die anyway. (Yes it happened to me once - and I actually filed a complaint against the doctor with the hospital, state, and his association).
