Why do Doctors get mad when you miss your appointment and need to re-schedule for another time?

Question

I had an appointment for my daughter today to see the pediatrician for her 12 month check up. I over slept this morning seeing as I work nights and was not able to keep my appointment. I called the office to let them know and told them that I would call them back to re-schedule for another day. They seemed really annoyed with me. I don't think it's a big deal, I have waited over an hour to see the Doctor before and just figured that someone else who needed to be seen would be glad to get out of there a little earlier. Other offices will charege you for cancelled appointments. Why do Doctors do this?

To dappersmom: You know, I can't be PERFECT like you and keep every appointment I make. I was up with my child most of the night when I got home and I overslept, you before you go off hating the player, maybe you should take a look at the game!!!!

Answer 1

I totally understand your annoyance, but I do have to answer from the other side of the fence, as I work in healthcare. The reason your doctor's receptionist sounded annoyned was that, most likely, she was the one who had to deal with rearranging the schedule around no-shows that day, and it is a hassle. Please understand, there are an unfortunately large number of people who miss appointments because they just don't feel like going. I work in a sleep lab, which means I work nights too and have overslept my share of events, but once a month I do sleep clinics with one of our doctors. He insists on seeing patients in the order that they are scheduled, so if someone is late, the whole line gets held up while we wait. He allows 20 minutes to see if they show, so each person who isn't on time or doesn't come adds time to every person behind them's wait time.

I'm not saying doctors don't get behind schedule, they do, and you should expect some wait time when you show up. But, if you're always waiting more than hour, your doctor probably has an over-schedule policy and you may want to think about finding a new doctor.

Having been on both sides of this situation, I understand how it happens. I do my very best to keep my appointments and call ahead if I can't, but sometimes things do come up. If you can, try and schedule appointments for right after you end your shift, that way you won't have gone to sleep yet and won't risk not getting up in time, so far that's worked pretty well for me.

Charging for appointments is mostly done as a way to encourage patients to keep appointments. If they let you know they charge ahead of time, they hope it will cause you to put more emphasis on keeping the appointment. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with your receiptionist, there's a good chance she was having a hard day, many doctors are in fact arrogant and hard to work for.

I run two studies a night, and when I don't hear from a patient and they don't show up, I'll be honest- my first reaction is annoyance. I would have called someone else in, which would help with the current back log of patients. And, most of the time, when they call to reschedule, they admit that something else just came up and they didn't think it was important enough to call. Try to put yourself in those shoes, people like that are rude, and when you hear it so much you tend to assume that's always what happened.

In any case, if she was really rude to you on the phone, mention it to the doctor whenever you get back in to see him. They want a good face on their practice and likely have no idea how their receptionists deal with their patients. If it seems like he doesn't care, then there's a good chance he's only in it for the money. If he is, look for a new doctor, and a younger one (they usually haven't had time to stop caring about the people they're taking care of).

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Because most offices have a very structured appointment plan. Put yourself in their position...you have 5 customers scheduled for a days work...you are counting on 5 checks at the end of the day...1 doesn't show up and you don't have time to fill the spot your out some time and money. A doctors time however is no more precious than yours..I would let the office staff and the doctor know how disappointed you are that you have an extreme wait. I always schedule my appointments first thing in the morning when they are slower and haven't had time to get behind for the day.

Answer 4

I am so sorry to hear the Babies father is an irresponsible jerk. Saying that, Congrats!! I know it may not be a convenient time to be pregnant. But You can and will be a wonderful mother, don't let anyone tell you, that because of your age you can't be a good mom. I was a very young mother also. I'm not going to lie, it was hard at first but man was it work it. I have a beautiful healthy 7 year old. My little girls dad didn't stay around either. So I know how you feel there. I am now older and married and also now have a 2 year old w/ the possibility of being prego now. I thank God everyday for all that I have been through b/c if I hadn't I would be the strong capable woman I am today. I wish you all the best and remember its your baby and you are going to be a great mom.

Answer 5

I do agree with you that it is not fair for them to be so annoyed with a canceled appointment considering the fact that you end up waiting over an hour to see them sometimes. But nevertheless when we do not show up someone else got bumped out because of our no show. I really don't think that it's breaking them or putting them into the poor house because of a "missed appt." that's why they have sneaky insurance billers who end up making up for it in the end. I can understand where you're coming from, working at night and then having babies to take care is really hard! But what I started to do was leave messages at what ever time *4,5 am with the exchange. At least they get the message and cant say you didn't call. They do end up billing you and your insurance in the end. Good luck next time, maybe you can switch doctors or let your doctor know the situation I'm sure they'll tell their workers to cut you some slack, you never know it's worth trying.

Answer 6

If you cancel and leave them enough time to give the appointment to someone else they don't. They get mad because this is how they earn their living, pay for their offices, their utilities, their degrees, their employees and when you cancel that late they can't make it up and thats also why they charge you anyway. You are paying for their time AND knowledge. They get mad because how would you feel if you carved out a hunk of your money making day to see someone and they couldn't be bothered? I bet you would be mad too! Thats also why we all wait so long in their offices, they over schedule because so many people (like you) cancel so the schedule more than they have time for because everyone there needs paid.

Answer 7

Oh my goodness! Doctors make me so mad! If you miss an appointment they want you to pay for the visit, "because someone else could have had that appointment time." But 3 times in the past 6 months I've had doctor's appointments, my husband took time off work to take me (I can't drive because of vision) and when I got to my appointments I was told the doctors had called in sick! I should have sent them a bill for the time my husband missed from work!

Answer 8

I had the same experience. I even called the doctor's office to see how late they were running and I was told that it did not matter that I had to sign in before 30 minutes after my appointment time or I would be charged. Even though his appointments had already run over by 2 1/2 hours. I think doctor's should have to pay us a fee when they cannot see us within 30 minutes of our scheduled appointment time.

Answer 9

I recently went to the doctor and waited over 2 hours to see him!!! I don't get it. They all make you wait for a minimum of 45 mins to an hour.
I sit there and think - why was I schedualed at 10am and I won't be seen until 11am??? This really sucks - I have better things to do with my time besides looking at magazines devoted to water skiing. I don't know why they care - they obviously grossly over book themselves... I wonder if the office closes at 5p are they still seeing people until 7 or 8???

Answer 10

They loose money. They make an average of $100.00 dollars for a visit(30minutes). If they prescribe or offer free drug samples they will eventually get "kick back" in one form or another. Once they get a thriving business going they want more. To keep you coming they will inflict pain(charge for cancelled appointments) to add value to the belief that healthcare is important and costly to keep the costs higher. Much like gasoline. You work hard enough, find a more compassionate doctor or just express your feelings about his staff and their insensitive commitment to patients who are human too!