this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2024
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My psych often has people wait for their appointments. I'll be scheduled for 800, there at 740, get seen at 840.
And you know what? That's perfectly fine. I feel taken seriously, he listens, he asks, he quips, he shares his own experiences, he does all he can to make me comfortable telling him about the shit going on in my head. I'll work up the courage to tell him something I find hard to phrase and unpleasant to talk about and he takes it with a relaxed professionalism, waiting patiently for me to finish, asks questions (usually very precise ones, both unpleasant in how close to home they hit and reassuring in the implications that I'm not the only one with these issues) and looks for the best way to help me.
So when I sit in that waiting room, watching the minutes tick by, I imagine he's taking the same time with a different, far more difficult patient. Perhaps someone got slotted in for an emergency, perhaps someone needs blood drawn for a routine check and really, really hates needles, perhaps someone is having a breakdown... I don't know and I don't care what ails the other patients, but I know that I want them to receive the same quality of care as I do. To me, that's worth waiting for.
There's a movement inside of Healthcare to get the average Dr's office humming like a dentist. Which, if you're concerned with patient care at all, is impossible. You'll see it with posters saying only one issue per visit, which also greatly imperils the patient as sometimes a diagnosis will change based off one symptom. You've got a good attitude about this. Please share it
This is the product of clinics being owned by corporations chasing a specific return, and not being owned by a local group of physicians who actually want to care for people.
Shop local applies.
We get the same issue in Ontario with family health teams. The structure of the corporation matters, but so does the funding model
Sometimes I wonder though if it's because drs get to bill OHIP per visit as well so if you try to squeeze more than one complaint in in a visit then they only get to bill once.
That is what I meant by the funding model. What we're talking about is fee for service. More service equals more money. There's other funding models though.
It's also a product of poor government funding models. We have universal healthcare in my country, and it works great for anything hospital-related. But GPs had the amount they get paid by the government frozen for nearly a decade as costs continued to rise, and once unfrozen, no effort was made to make up for the lost decade. So GPs are forced to either charge out the arse for private fees, or operate on a ruthless patient-unfriendly schedule to maximise throughput just to be able to make ends meet.
As far as I can tell, my psych is doing well enough to not worry about his living, not particularly keen on getting rich, deals with some super heavy things and curses at the stupid computer system he's required to use, so he's probably chronically low on fucks to give for seeing the maximum amount of patients per day.
But yeah, when you see him walk out of one room with a heavier-than-usual frown on his face, taking a deep breath to compose himself before walking into the next one, you start to wonder how many times he's had to put on a stoic face before seeing you. And then he sits down, asks how you're doing, whether you've done that thing you mentioned wanting to do last time and gives you full attention.
I have nothing but respect for that man. I've moved a good bit away from him now, but I'd still rather take the long trip to see him for my regular appointments than search for a new one.
If the appointments last longer....maybe he should schedule them properly
It's hard to predict just how long an appointment will take. Some have been done in five minutes, just a brief check-in and new prescription, and scheduling half an hour for that would mean twiddling his thumbs for twenty minutes he could have spent helping someone that arrived rather punctual for their appointment. I think scheduling for the average appointment but allowing overtime for those who need it is the more patient-friendly approach.
You got downvotes for it but nah, it's on the Dr if this is a regular occurrence. Once or twice or going over a min or two is fine, but regularly being 45 minutes late (hello my last Dr) is a sign you've lied to everyone scheduling an appointment about how long they are and when to even be there for one
Exactly, but if you the patient are late or a no show, then here's a $50 fee for you.
You are to empathic for social media 😄
For sure. I'm too empathic for most things. I can't watch embarrassment humour, I struggle with particularly heavy scenes in games or movies, I've put down books when I knew something tragic was about to happen because I couldn't bear reading it and imagining the pain the protagonists must feel.