Alright, so I am fairly picky about my Dr. offices.
This might be because with our insurance, we pay full price for Dr. Office visits. This means I want my 80 - 100 dollars to be well spent. Trust me, there are many places that money could be going!
I am finding it harder and harder to be satisfied when I go in for a visit. Maybe I am being too picky? I certainly don't think so! It's not like Doctors are just barely making ends meet, or that the health care industry is just struggling to make it. They have a good (albeit hard at times) job with fantastic job security and pretty decent pay. (I also understand that most good doctors here in Tooele are getting ready to move into a nice huge medical office park that they are building, so they are probably a little busy with that too.)
However, here is my measly list of what I expect.
1. I want to be able to get in or get my child in same day if needed. Obviously, if the office closes at 5:00 pm and I call at 3:30 I don't expect them to squeeze me in. However, if I call in the afternoon on Monday, I don't want to wait until later Tuesday to get in.
2. I want to have the option of seeing a real live true doctor. I actually LOVE a lot of the P.A's around. They are so personable and easy to relate to. But if I want to see a certified Dr., then I should be able to without scheduling months in advance.
3. If I am on time, I don't want to have to wait a long long time to get into a room and then a long long time to be seen. I think a reasonable time to wait is 10 - 15 minutes in the main waiting room, and 5-10 minutes in the room we are seen in. I get really irritated sitting in a little warm room with no windows surrounded by white walls and little kid pictures. I don't want to touch anything, or let my kids touch anything in fear of getting exposed to more germs.
4. I want the Dr. to listen, but be thorough and efficient and keep things going.
5. When I call to ask a question (which I rarely do anymore), don't call the 19 year old medical assistants who just graduated from medical assisting school in 9 months NURSES!!! They are not nurses! I think every office should have a real true live nurse - as in an RN- to talk to if you have questions.
6. Does anyone else hate leaving messages on the "prescription refill line" or "lab test result line" or "ask a nurse a question" answering machine? I especially get annoyed when they say it may take up to 48 hours to respond. During the last pregnancy, I couldn't get a test result from a particular office. And I called and left many messages, I finally went to the office and told them I would wait in their waiting room for as long as it would take for someone to come and explain my results.
7. I expect a courteous receptionist. I want to be greeted kindly by someone who knows what they are doing. And although they have seen 50 other parents or kids there that morning, I would like them to treat me like they are appreciative of my choice to choose their office to meet our needs.
8. Last but not by any means least, I want to be able to feel like I am getting fantastic treatment. I want to know that my doctor and his staff is up to date, knowledgeable, friendly, and positive. I want to leave feeling like my money and time was well spent!
Too picky? You tell me!
5 comments:
Not at all too picky! Nathan had a cut the other day that should have had stitches. Due to past experience, I opted to slap a bandaid on it and call it good.
Not too picky. I also think they should all be nice and give you what you came for. If you wait for an hour to get a physical done, you shouldn't have to drive back when they have "time" to fill it out. I have invested my patient 2 hours, they should spend the time it takes to fill out the physical. I just smile and say, I will wait here, thank you. Kill em with kindness. :-)
So what is this awesome doctor's name? And can I get an appointment for my kids there? I especially love that part about not waiting in the room forever. Someone always loves to get into the hazardous waste garbage can because it has a cool flip lid! YUCK!!!! At least now I let them get in all the cupboards and drawers because if they didn't want kids to get into it they wouldn't make us leave the tv in the waiting room to sit in this room for 20 minutes. They should have games on the computers in the rooms also.
it seems like it should be possible. it seems the more experience i get with the medical world the less i trust them...
Having a few frustrations lately? My only suggestion is this...don't ever let your kids get sick, hurt or otherwise needing to see a doctor. Or yourself for that matter. Now, how helpful is that?!
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