[Madame_X]

#1019019

Lately the endo I’ve been seeing has been seeing us patients later and later.

I always arrive about 30 to 40 minutes ahead of my scheduled time, whenever I have a doc’s appt of any kind.

Back in May, I waited 2 hours for my appointment; this go round, I waited over 2 1/2 hours to be seen. The clients that were in the queue ahead of me were waiting even longer than that.

Additionally, I need medical information from the endo for a separate purpose. I asked for that info in writing about 2 weeks ago.

The day after I submitted my request in writing, I called the office to confirm it was received. "Dr. J has no office hours on Wednesday…" Huh? You mean this guy only works 3 days a week??? NO wonder he’s so danged backlogged!

It’s now almost 2 weeks later and no info forth coming. I made 2 calls today; on the last go round I was told, "I will relay this info to my office manager and she’ll get right on it." That was at 1 pm; nobody called me back. Meanwhile the agency that needs that info is still waiting on it from me.

Is this guy too busy over 3 days per week or what? I’m starting to get kind of po’d — parking is pretty tight where he is and I’ve risked getting a parking ticket from where I leave my car when I catch the train to take the train to his office when I have an appt.

Given all of this, would you look for another endo? Tnx.

[ewmb]

#1068519

If you haven’t got to get another referral to change and there is someone else nearby I’d start asking around to see if the other doctors see Graves patients etc.. You might be able to find some ratings from patients online. I do take these with a grain of salt as those who are upset like you are are likely to post negative things only but they may be right! Seems like this doctor isn’t too interested in helping patients or his office staff is not very good. The next doctor should be able to get your records faster for you but you have a right to get them yourself. If you have the time to go and stand there and wait for them to print them off for you that might do it. Depending on their policy and how many pages it will be you might have to pay for the copying. Hope you get things straightened out.

ewmb

[Bobbi]

#1068520

Sometimes the doctors get blamed for the inefficiencies of the office staff. I cannot tell whether that is what is happening to you at this point in time, but it might be. They might be scheduling too many patients, too closely together. They obviously are not handling the paper work part of things well, otherwise you would have had the information you needed by now.

If it were me, I would go into the office and wait for the paper work to be handed to me. Or to be given an exact time when the paper work would arrive. I would be nice about it, but I would be firm: You may not know precisely who dropped that ball, and it doesn’t pay to yell at someone who isn’t the responsible party. But, bottom line, you obviously need that paper work, and it doesn’t sound like they’re going to get it to you any time soon. It is obviously an unnecessary trip for you, but if you need the paperwork, you may have to resort to a trip.

Wednesdays off are not necessarily the reason for the waits in office. My endo takes Thursdays off, and her office runs like clock work. I have, in the past, given up on other doctors due to long waits in some cases, but not in others. It depends on the doctor. If I really like the doctor, and they run behind all the time, I book appointments at times when I am almost guaranteed not to have to wait: i.e. first appointment in the a.m. or first appointment after lunch. ” title=”Wink” />

[elf]

#1068521

The only time I waited for 2 hours, was for my oculoplastic surgeon, – who covers ALL OF CANADA EAST OF QUEBEC. You cannot argue with that, and I let it go since I like her. Those 2 hours were a torture, I feel ya.

Otherwise, there are many more Endos to be enduring this kids of "care". I was having a primary doc with this over-booking because she worked 3 hours a day, 9-12, wanted to be home when her kids came from school. I don’t know why I mopped with her for 6 years. Just changed a Dr, and it’s like a breath of fresh air. He works till 7pm (!) and fixed a couple of our problems in a heartbeat. The previous Dr couldn’t even diagnose what they were.

In short, if you see and feel in your gut, something is wrong, – it is. Trust your gut.

[Madame_X]

#1068522

Thanks for your help.

I got the run around again today. "This is the first I am hearing about it…I’ll remind the office manager again…." Gah.

If I waited that length of time last month, what do I do re: my next appt? Pack 5 pc luggage and hope for the best? Man.

The endos that are covered under my plan are fairly limited. The one I really wanted was not seeing any more new pts and the other one in the immediate area isn’t easily accessed — in November when I was still trying to find an endo after my dx, he had no appts available until January of this year.

When I was there last month, a new patient was there, filling out paperwork. When he found out there’d be a very long wait for his 2:30 appointment did he get upset. Evidently he’d taken time off during his lunch hour to see the doc and thought he’d be in and out in an hour.

He was still waiting when I left the office at about quarter of 5.

[ewmb]

#1068523

Maybe you could talk with your insurance provider to see if they would intervene on your behalf to switch to another doctor on their list. I’d call back to the office that had appointments in January that time and tell them your situation. New patient appointments are sometimes not as available as ones for those who are already diagnosed. You might let them know that you’d be willing to come to talk with the new doctor during his office time not seeing patient time to discuss whether or not he could help you out. Ask if he does e-mail consults. Call your current office back and tell them you need to switch your next appointment to the first thing in the morning and at least try and get some answers before you might be switching. I’ve had your experience of waiting and it’s really awful especially when you don’t feel well. Maybe you could have your GP call the new endo’s office. They can sometimes get appointments faster than lay people.

ewmb

[Ski]

#1068524

This is all very good advice ~ I just wanted to jump in and say that, in my experience, endocrinologists are the busiest doctors I have ever met. I don’t believe I’ve known one that wasn’t always backed up with appointments. If you can find one who at least acknowledges the problem and assures you that they are doing everything in their power to avoid these kinds of delays, that may be the best you can do.

It’s a really great suggestion to find one that engages in e-mail consultations ~ that can save everyone a lot of time and headache. If the entire appointment boils down to a glance at your last bloodwork and a prescription change up or down a dose level, it would seem an incredible waste of time for everybody, doctor included. E-mail could really solve some issues.

Also, if you need to travel a little bit to get another endo, it may be worth it if you at least feel your time is valued. Check with the office staff before deciding upon going to another doctor ~ the receptionists can give you a general idea of the backup in the waiting room, and the most senior nurse can probably give some insight into how the doctor works, in general (as in, does the doctor operate as a team member with patients, or as "boss of you" ~ important distinction).

[Madame_X]

#1068525

This current doc doesn’t even have email. Dude, move into at least the 80s on this one, eh?

I have no idea how people who work hack this delays while waiting nonsense. What are you expected to do — take a half personal day when you have an endo appointment? I’ll bet that goes over real big with management.

His office doesn’t even have one waiting room — there is another one down the hall — and when you think he’s ready to see you, they call you and go "Can you wait in here, please" and in that waiting room is another group of people! You’re stuck in another waiting queue at that point.

As it is he is *a bit* of a distance from me — he is about 6 miles from here but his office is situated in an area where there is positively no onstreet parking at all whatsoever. I take a bus and a subway to get there or I leave my car in a muni parking lot and take a light rail train from there to get to his office. Metered parking there is limited to about 3 hours tops — travel time to the office from that lot takes about 30 minutes.

This same endo never asked me "Did you go back to work yet" when I was first diagnosed — like I said, I never encroached the topic of being medically cleared to go back to work, being I was laid off anyway, and still am.

At my last appointment, he spent all of 15 minutes with me. And I waited how long for him to see me for that little bit of time. And I also felt like I got the bum’s rush.

The endo with the no appts until January is about a 20 minute drive from here by car. I indeed think I’ll call there tomorrow and see what’s what. Waiting all this time for an appointment — plus having to hound his office staff for info I should have had a week ago tops — is annoying indeed.

When I first started to see him, he was fine with staying on track and keeping on sched with his appointments — this waiting and waiting mess only began back in May.

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