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365 Comments
- bossm4n, on 06/13/2008, -44/+227Dear doctors, please learn time management. It is not acceptable to keep your patients waiting in your lobby for more than an hour, especially when you have an appointment and you have shown up on time. We all realize that emergencies happen and sometimes you run behind, but there's no excuse for constantly running late. You don't have to double and triple book appointments. If you can't handle your work load, bring in extra staff or refer your patients to other doctors. -- Pissed off patients, Everywhere.
- ytsohptwhere, on 06/14/2008, -6/+145Being the son of a doctor, I can say that most of those "Gift's" are just pens and plush toys that pile up in my fathers office. Nothing beats the Viagra lab coat though...
- rawg, on 06/13/2008, -4/+115FTA: "Though we don't cry in front of you, we sometimes do cry about your situation at home." --Pediatrician, Chicago
I'm sure they would never share this with their patients but it's good to know that that they are human and do care deeply about the people under their care. - DrDigg, on 06/14/2008, -3/+100The real problem is that we never know how many people are actually going to come to their appointments. People are better about their hair dresser appointments then they are about their doctor appointments. Some days half of my patients don't show up. So on days when everyone shows up I run a little behind. Also you never know what problem the patient is going to have. Some patients take 10 minutes and others come in with so many problems that you could be stuck there for an hour. God forbid someone is so sick they have to get admitted.
That being said I hate running late. I run about 10 minutes late at most. About once a month I run an hour late. Something comes up at the hospital and the rest of the day is screwed. I know that I am the exception though. - TehGrisp, on 06/14/2008, -5/+85"You remember that time when you were under anesthesia? Well..."
- GalacticRerun, on 06/13/2008, -7/+84Wow I bet Dr Cox is a hero to these guys.
- slashpslayer, on 06/13/2008, -5/+77It's at the same time odd, unsettling, and enlightening to hear this kind of stuff. I always thought of doctors as non-people who were sworn to help no matter what...but its clear that they are people too and get just as grossed out by your stool samples as anyone else.
- luket13, on 06/14/2008, -3/+66Being a med student I don't know where to begin with these comments, i would say a lot are true but to understand a doctors mentality you have to go through the years of unbelievable ***** we put up with, the hours we haven't slept the ***** system that is insurance companies and patients that don't listen, all of this because the majority of us just generally wanted to help people.
- Tryptomine, on 06/14/2008, -2/+53And being the son of a drug sales rep., I can say most of the 'gift' money is spent on drug samples for the doctor to hand out for free.
- DrDigg, on 06/14/2008, -0/+49I didn't want this tip to be lost in the thread above.
If you hate waiting in your doctor's waiting room, ask for the first appointment of the morning or the first after lunch. These are the least likely to be running late. - Nysul, on 06/14/2008, -2/+43"58% would give adolescents contraceptives without parental consent.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine "
Although laws vary by state, for most states you do not need parental permission to treat someone for sexual health related issues. - DrDigg, on 06/14/2008, -1/+38It's never lupus.
- DrDigg, on 06/14/2008, -0/+34One suggestion (short of finding another doctor) is calling the office an hour before your appointment and asking if the doctor is running on time. If not ask if you can come in a little later than your scheduled time. Some offices may not let you though.
Another recommendation I would have is to ask for the first appointment of the morning or the first after lunch. These appointments will run the least late. - Ellipsys, on 06/14/2008, -2/+35Because if the doctor had to collect, arrange, and bill that information himself with the metric ***** of codes required by the current system, he wouldn't be able to see patients at all.
- Jebra, on 06/14/2008, -1/+32I've worked and volunteered in several doctor's offices and hospitals. And I can understand every 'secret' on that page. There are so many patients who are absolutely insufferable and you really wonder why the country is the way it is sometimes. I've sat in on visits where patients will go on and on and on about trivial things (we don't want to see baby pictures or hear about your last vacation woes about boating rental when there's 30 people in the waiting room because you and a couple dozen before you show up 20 min late and still expect to be seen), embellish their symptoms, complain about everything and anything, then ask for an antibiotic even though they have a viral infection because they 'read it on the internet' somewhere. Medication does not solve everything, taking lipitor or blood pressure meds only covers the fact that they don't exercise and have poor diets.
Especially in networks and large hospital, the doctors don't have much control over how things are run. It's all up to hospital admins who are more concerned with numbers and finances. So when people take out their frustration out on nurses and docs who are horribly understaffed and trying to cope, we tend to grin through clinched teeth. I've seen waiting room chairs thrown, doors slammed, and by the end of the day everyone is just extremely stressed and want to get home.
We are trying our best, we only wish some people would meet us halfway. - DrDigg, on 06/14/2008, -2/+32I hope that wasn't a "sexual health related issue"
- Llanowar, on 06/14/2008, -19/+49Yeah, sure, doctors know more than a website...
And yet I once had a near fatal combination of medication. Which I only found out because things didn't went right and I looked up information online which told about what could happen if that medication is taken together.
I've had too much bad experience with doctors to ever trust them completely. The internet I won't ever trust completely either, but I will surely look up information to see if docs haven't skipped stuff.
Also doctors, stop whining. I pay you, you work for me. - Spudster, on 06/14/2008, -2/+30Two things struck me with this article:
There is actual talk of payment of medicals bills (not a problem up here in Canada).
and
"58% would give adolescents contraceptives without parental consent.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine "
Only 58 percent? Christ that's shockening low. In Canada, parental consent is not required for birth control and that's a right codified in law. I'm not trying to tout my country either, it's just that those two things are shocking coming up from here. - ncapone, on 06/14/2008, -1/+28I bet Dr. Pepper is a hero to these guys.
- DrDigg, on 06/14/2008, -2/+29I hate to admit it but most (although not all) of these are true.
- inactive, on 06/14/2008, -1/+26You can thank Medicare/Medicaid for making the bureaucratic jobs necessary.
The health industry is way over-regulated and it hurts doctors (and consequently patients) the most.
Here's a fun game. Try and understand 10% of what is on this website... http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ - inactive, on 06/14/2008, -0/+25I agree, and most of the cases the doctor gives the samples to people whom he knows has little to no money, or who have ran out of (insert drug here), to tie them over. I have only seen the samples given out for very good reasons.
- viacombusta, on 06/14/2008, -3/+28sorry to burden you, doctors. i'll stay home and die alone and be buried with my money.
- Rizin, on 06/14/2008, -2/+2558% would give adolescents contraceptives without parental consent.
Is that really so shocking? If anything its a good thing. - 10scott10, on 06/14/2008, -4/+27you don't pay *****. you pay your insurance company. the CEO buys a yatch with your money. the money he drops goes to the doctors. seriously, living with a doctor, you wouldn't believe the number of times that a single insurance company will raise rates for patients and cut payment to doctors in a single week.
and as to the last stat, try cutting that 41 dollars per visit in half. and thats best case for most doctors. - nsundeepreddy, on 06/14/2008, -1/+23On the other hand, ~100% of all politicians take contributions from lobbies and others when there is clear indication that this leads to biases.
This crap happens at all levels. Sometimes it is called marketing.. sometimes lobbying. The result is the same. It creates bias. - DrDigg, on 06/14/2008, -1/+23I could never be an oncologist or a pediatrician. Just couldn't handle seeing little kids sick or dealing with people dying from cancer all the time. Thank God there are good people who can do it.
- Cheesasaurus, on 06/14/2008, -1/+22I bet Dr. Dre is a hero to these guys.
- Gryffydd, on 06/14/2008, -1/+22What does that have to do with doctors again? They hate the insurance companies even more than you do.
- Phoenix478, on 06/14/2008, -2/+22I'd love for someone to explain to me why prescription drug companies are allowed to advertise in the first place. They're selling a product that I cannot obtain unless a licensed professional deems that I need said product. And fully half the length of their TV commercials consist of a list of side effects, each one more horrifying than the last. Someone once told me that the drug companies spend $9 billion a year on advertising. I cannot help but feel like with the cost of so many drug being so high we're the ones footing the bill.
And for those of you not familiar with the heathcare system in the U.S. - yeah, it suck out loud. People's health should not be a business run by HMOs and Pharmaceutical companies, where even basic coverage is out of reach of many citizens, myself included. As a recent college grad I don't make much money and medical insurance has never been provided by any of my jobs, so if I were to say, break my arm, that's $3,000 or so that comes out of my pocket, and I can assure you that's $3,000 I do not have. Basically I have to pray I don't get sick. It's awesome!
That being said I don't begrudge the medical professionals. Most of them anyway. My experience with medical professionals is somewhat unique in that my father is a doctor, my mother is a speech/language pathologist, my fiancee is a nurse, her mother and sister are also nurses, her father is a doctor and her brother is in med school to become a doctor (seriously. That's the kind of crap you can't make up). Fortunately they're all very good at what they do and very dedicated to it, but just like in any field there are bad apples. Sadly with medicine the stakes are pretty damn high. This article was something of an over-simplification though. Listening to their horror stories I can attest that yeah a fair bit of this sounds accurate, but so many of their patients are insane. Doctors and nurses (especially nurses - yes I'm bias) do an impossibly hard job because they genuinely care about people and want to make the world a better place, but so much is stacked against them (insurance companies and the patients themselves have always been at the top of the lists I've heard) and after all they are just human, so no they're not perfect but they're pretty much as close as humans can hope to come to perfect. After all they have to go through their spirit's cannot help but be somewhat crushed. None of us could. - lobsang, on 06/14/2008, -5/+25One of the things that piss me off is the "take your clothes off and put this gown" just to have the doctor come see you and realize that you never needed to do that in the first place. Oh, god forbid poor doctor waste his precious seconds waiting for you to undress only if you really need to do so. Of course, as far as they are concerned, YOUR time is free.
- Branchex, on 06/14/2008, -2/+21• The most unsettling thing for a physician is when the patient doesn't trust you or believe you.
--Obstetrician-gynecologist, New York City
How dare the patients do that when stuff like this happens:
• Those so-called free medication samples of the newest and most expensive drugs may not be the best or safest.
--Internist, Philadelphia
• Ninety-four percent of doctors take gifts from drug companies, even though research has shown that these gifts bias our clinical decision making.
--Internist, Rochester, Minnesota
• Doctors get paid each time they visit their patients in the hospital, so if you're there for seven days rather than five, they can bill for seven visits. The hospital often gets paid only for the diagnosis code, whether you're in there for two days or ten.
--Evan S. Levine, MD
• Not a day goes by when I don't think about the potential for being sued. It makes me give patients a lot of unnecessary tests that are potentially harmful, just so I don't miss an injury or problem that comes back to haunt me in the form of a lawsuit.
--ER physician, Colorado Springs, Colorado
• Doctors often make patients wait while they listen to sales pitches from drug reps.
--Cardiologist, Bangor, Maine - CapeKid, on 06/14/2008, -4/+23I bet Dr House is a hero to these guys.
- carpespasm, on 06/14/2008, -2/+21I bet Dr. Who is a hero to these guys.
- topgigmedia, on 06/14/2008, -0/+19My mother worked in Oncology for a number of years while I was growing up. I would often see her in my father's arms at night after work sobbing over a sick patient. Doctors may not always seem like it, but many are compassionate humans like the rest of us.
- DrDigg, on 06/14/2008, -0/+18I watched Grey's for the first year and then stopped, too much of a soap opera. I, and a lot of younger docs, like Scrubs, and the medical stuff is surprisingly accurate. ER is also fairly accurate and I watched it for a few years, but don't anymore.
- DrDigg, on 06/14/2008, -1/+19Most people have no idea what someone has to go through to be a doctor. Its funny, I'm 31 and I just got out of training (and that was with skipping a year). Its a long road, good luck.
My dad (who is a doctor) actually tried to convince my brother and I not to become doctors. But we rebelled, and are both doctors. Not sure I would recommend it to too my kids though. - RedViper1999, on 06/14/2008, -1/+18Yeah well considering that they have huge student loans to pay off (in excess of 200k these days) and have spent at least 10 years in post high school education I'm of the mind they earned it. There are too few doctors and too many patients something has to give and generally its doctors having to see way too many patients and unable to give the care they want to them.
- DrDigg, on 06/14/2008, -1/+17Yeah it sucks. I can tell you most doctors don't like running late, but some are just inefficient. The only way to make sure that everyone runs on time is to limit patients to set period of time, and nobody likes that.
I would stick with my second suggestion. Ask for the first appointment of the day. Obviously not possible for urgent visits, but if you have lead time for your visit go for it. - GorfTron, on 06/14/2008, -1/+17Interesting point! I will keep this one in mind....
"Avoid Friday afternoon surgery. The day after surgery is when most problems happen. If the next day is Saturday, you're flying by yourself without a safety net, because the units are understaffed and ERs are overwhelmed because doctors' offices are closed." - TheMachine1, on 06/14/2008, -1/+17But strangely I had a metal object launch into my foot from a lawn mower blade when I was 13 and the ER would not see me till a parent showed up.
- snapcase, on 06/14/2008, -1/+17True, but that Douglas Farrago guy sounds like a dick.
- silentforest, on 06/14/2008, -0/+16Douglas Farrago, MD sounds like a real *****.
- ChiffX, on 06/14/2008, -4/+19Are these all American doctors?
- Amadeus2490, on 06/14/2008, -2/+17You should do your best to inform yourself, but i'll warn everybody of something from a bit of personal experience: typing your symptoms into Google and seeing the list of possible diseases on webmd is possibly the most scary and nerve-wracking thing you could do to yourself; It's very easy to convince yourself that you have diabetes, hypoglycemia, HIV, or a rare flesh-eating bacteria from Africa.
Internet research should only be supplemental to the care of a knowledgeable and friendly physician. - Gryffydd, on 06/14/2008, -1/+15What do you do for a living? Should people expect you to work for free? If you think doctors should be paid by the government or something...remember where the government gets its money.
- FreshPineSent, on 06/14/2008, -7/+20Dammit, I pay $1,000 a month for medical insurance, this is *****!
- liah, on 06/14/2008, -0/+13So, for any doctors here, do any of you actually watch shows like Scrubs or Grey's? Or can you not stand them because of how inaccurate they are? That's something I've always wondered..
- Spudster, on 06/14/2008, -4/+16• I was told in school to put a patient in a gown when he isn't listening or cooperating. It casts him in a position of subservience.
--Chiropractor, Atlanta
Funny how probably the most evil comment of them all was from the least qualified of them all, a chiropractor. - wolfofwar, on 06/14/2008, -0/+12It's a shame the number is only at alittle over half.
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