The other day i had a doctors appt, which i scheduled last week on the phone and when i showed up for my appt. the office staff said the doctor was not in and they lost my appoiinment. She also told me she had another patient whose appt. they lost as well that day. I could not beleve it as they were not able to call me any ways because they lost it in the system. There was a waiting room full of people and i aclmly told her i took off from work for this appt and it was scheduled a week ago ,and she evens remember talking with me on the phone when i made the appt. She kept saying im sorry, and i rescheduled my appt in a few weeks on a weekend so i dont have to take off from work. Should i tell my doctor when i see him next appt what happened and request a co-pay visit to be waived for the inconvience and time off from work i took? Dont these people keep written records as well i guess not!! Unbelievable!! I dont want to switch docs over this, what would U do??
2007-08-17 11:08:22 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Etiquette
You bet they make mistakes like this, they have human beings working there, don't they?
2007-08-17 11:12:14 · answer #1 · answered by WC 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Depends on how much you like your doctor, but yes, I would consider a change. Having such an incompetent staff is totally inexcusable. You should definitely be compensated for your inconvenience. I used to go to a doctor I liked very much; I went for my routine visit, then the office called the next day and said I was late for my appointment! I said I had been there the day before; and also said there is no way I would have made two appointments one thew day after the other...the office manager was very rude and partonizing and said I made a mistake; computers don't make mistakes. Actually she was right, it wasn't the computer it was yet again another example of an incompetent office staff.
You have to think, if they screw up a simple thing like an appointment, what can they do with your records and test results?????
2007-08-17 11:21:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh, the woes of doctor's appointments! I have had doctors lose appointments, re-schedule without authorization and lose records!
Probably the most audacious mistake was when I went to my family doctor (it had been about two years since my previous appointment, and I was only 17 at the time). The assistants in the office were rather rude, and informed me "If you haven't been here in the past 7 years, we're not required to keep your records any longer." One of the nurses who had been with the office since I was at least 5 (the time we began using the doctor), had to come out to verify for the office assistants that I was, indeed, telling the truth that I had been to the office in the past seven years; she seemed peeved at the situation, as well, and told them, "Well, does she look so old that she hasn't been in a doctor's office in the past seven years?"
On another occassion, a doctor's office called my husband at home to reschedule an appointment the morning of the appointment. They were very rude to him on the phone, telling him that they had been trying to call for some time and hadn't been able to reach anyone (we both usually worked during the day, and the office had my work number). He told them that I had time off work for the appointment that day and could not reschedule it for earlier in the day. However, when I showed up for the appointment, they told me that "I was late" and that I should have called them if I was unable to make the earlier appointment (even though my husband told the office that I could not go to the earlier appointment). I insisted on waiting in the office for my appointment that day (as it was an appointment I had scheduled over a month earlier!).
I understand that doctors and their assistants have a stressful profession and when I make an appointment I always allow extra time in my scheduling in case appointments are running late (I've waited up to 2 hours for appointments even on days when the office didn't make any mistakes!), but I do wish that offices would be more understanding and work to correct their mistakes.
2007-08-20 10:10:21 · answer #3 · answered by JenV 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It happened to me recently, but in a different way. I WORK in the office it happened in and I had an appointment with the diabetes specialist. Well, so did another woman, for the same 1 hour slot, and I was in the computer but she was not. I gave up my appointment to accommodate her (customer service, you know) and she never even thanked me. I was pissed! I need to change my insulin, I came to work 2 hours early for this appointment and I had made it a month ahead of time. It was an honest mistake by a co-worker so I couldn't be angry with her... it happens.
Oh, by the way... no we usually don't keep written records anymore of appointments, it's all computerized and one simple mis-key and the info isn't saved. Don't change doctors just yet... things happen and we really DO feel badly about it.
2007-08-17 11:41:05 · answer #4 · answered by ♥ terry g ♥ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh yeah~! it happed to me. I wrote a complaint to the owner of the clinic, and the physician I had an actual appointment with. The problem is a lot of people who work at Doctor's office are not so educated nor incompetent. They should not be there in my opinion. But they get low salary and they get by with it. I never went back there again EVER!!!! I do not trust the office. Who knows what comes next~!!!! I would look for better management clinical office with a good doctor.
2007-08-17 11:14:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
A similar thing happened to me once, and the receptionist actually tried to make me believe that my appt was on a different date than was on my appt card. The real problem was she didn't write the appt down in her appt book and was trying to cover it up.
I firmly told the halfwit behind the desk that she made the appt, showed her the appt card that she filled out on my last visit, told her that she was irresponsible by not writing the appt down and that I was not responsible for her problems, and then told her that she would honor the appt. whether she wanted to or not.
I didn't feel that she deserved any courtesy because she lied to try to cover it up.
2007-08-17 19:08:28 · answer #6 · answered by Bookworm 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My doctor's office not only lost my appointment, they also lost my blood sample that they took during my next appointment. They didn't charge me a co-pay for the next appointment when they re-took my blood, but seriously, how do they lose vials of blood? Losing an appointment is bad enough. Sorry you had to deal with it.
2007-08-17 11:35:40 · answer #7 · answered by K 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had the same thing happen to me .... I paid too, i did inform the Doctor and the part that got me is from there, anytime I made an appointment to see him, i was sent to his Assistant .... I told them to fly a kite, I never went back... Totally disappointed, so disappointed I cried home. But I can relate.
2007-08-17 11:15:39 · answer #8 · answered by Charley 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a dr's office always calls a day or 2 prior to the appt date to make sure you remember to show. if you don't get this call, call them to confirm....
2007-08-17 12:16:24 · answer #9 · answered by lauren s 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yup! I sent them a bill for $25, just like they would have sent me had i cancelled. Didn't get payed, but amused me to think about the look on their faces.
I figured my time was just as important.
2007-08-17 11:12:44 · answer #10 · answered by burbam2001 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Next time make sure they write it down and sign it.
For this one I would write to the manager and explain what happened.
2007-08-17 11:22:51 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋