it's like a forwarded e-mail string...

...you need to scroll down and read the previous post for this one to make complete sense.

Exhibit B:
Earlier this week, I had an appointment with my dermatologist. When I arrived, I noticed a sign in the lobby that said “Don’t wait! Please let our front desk know if you have been waiting more than 15 minutes to check in.” I got checked in pretty quickly, so I grabbed a magazine to pass the time while waiting. There were just 4 other people in the waiting room with me, so it seemed to be a light day for appointments. Around 9am, one of the other girls waiting in the lobby approached the front desk.

Girl: Hi, I need to know if I’m going to be able to see the doctor soon.
Receptionist: What time was your appointment?
G: It was over 30 minutes ago. If I can’t see the doctor in the next 5 or 10 minutes, I’ll have to leave, because I have to get to a court date.
R: Well, there’s still 1 person ahead of you, so I just don’t know if that will happen.
G: Then I’m probably going to have to cancel and reschedule.
R: You don’t want the appointment anymore?
G: I have to get to my court date, and I need to be there by 9:30. I didn’t know it would take this long.
R: Well, the doctors usually run at least 30 minutes late.
G: The doctor called and said he needed to see me, and he specifically told me to make a morning appointment to ensure that I wouldn’t have to wait long.
R: Well, there were already four people ahead of you this morning.
G: Ok, but how long does it take to see each patient? I got the earliest available appointment.
R: I don’t know what to tell you. Either you wait or you don’t.
G: Well, at this point, if I can’t see him in 5 minutes, I probably won’t even reschedule.
R: I will check and see what I can do.
G: Ok, I’m going to go out in the hall and make a call to let them know I am running late.

So the girl walks out into the hallway to make her call, and while she is gone, I overhear the receptionist telling a co-worker about the situation.

R: ...and she’s saying that she needs to see him in the next 5 minutes, and I just want to tell her “Well, just leave then.” I mean, it’s no skin off my back…not my problem.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Even though the girl had been very calm and reasonable in the way that she spoke to the receptionist (much more so than I would have been), the receptionist was being incredibly rude and dismissive. Again, I came so close to walking up to the window and saying to her “Excuse me, but that was extremely tacky of you. Do you not realize that all of us sitting in the waiting room can hear you? You are being terribly rude and dismissive to one of your patients. You even have a sign that encourages people to speak up if they have been waiting! Your attitude may end up losing this practice more than one patient today.” But, instead of doing that, I just bit my tongue. I am surprised I don’t have a big, gaping hole in it by this point.

I had to laugh, though, when I finally got back in the exam room, and I noticed these comment cards that were available for giving feedback:


I guess they don’t really care to hear the bad stuff—just comments of praise, please.

So, even though I was just a bystander in this negative experience, I am thinking about finding a new dermatologist. It may be that I am becoming more like my father, because I don’t think the idea that “the doctors always run at least 30 minutes late” is acceptable. If that is happening, then I believe they need to re-evaluate their scheduling practices. My dad refuses to wait more than 15 minutes for an appointment. Once it hits the 15-minute mark, he will walk up to the receptionist and say, “I need you to reschedule my appointment. My time is just as valuable as the doctor’s. I was here on time, and I expect him to be on time as well. If he is consistently late, then I will find another doctor who respects his patients enough to make his appointments on time.” He has a point—most of us have to take time off from our jobs to see a doctor, since doctor’s office hours directly coincide with most business hours. Unfortunately, though, it seems that medicine is one of the few practices where it is apparently acceptable to run late consistently. I mean, if I ran 30 minutes late every time I went to meet a donor, I probably wouldn’t be raising much money at all!

Sigh. See what I mean? I’ve done pretty well so far about keeping my temper and not lashing out in these situations..but one of these days, that tongue is going to slip, and I think it could be sooner rather than later...