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I had recently read an article about how patients disappeared for years from the practice. But have doctors ever wondered there could be a reason behind.
This is what happened to me yesterday. I got mixed up and I went to an appointment one day early. I didn't realize it until I attempted to check-in and I was told my appointment wasn't yesterday but today. But since I already took a sick day, I offered to just sit there and wait for an available slot and I told them I didn't mind the wait because I just had the entire day.
The staff at my doctor's office told me, "No, you can't wait here, we won't check you in no matter what, we can't service you even if you wait here till the end of the day. You can't just wait here."
"But I'm willing to sit here the entire day, I don't mind. You can process the appointments first until there is an empty spot that I can fill in, I'm here in case there is a slot open. If not, I don't mind being here for one day. If you don't want me here taking up the space, can you please call me or text me when there is an open slot, I will be around the building." I pleaded.
The girl at the reception said, "No, we don't do that."
So today I overslept a little and I went back to my day of appointment and they said I was 35 minutes late and they would not check me in! I pleaded again and a different girl from yesterday told me, "No, your name isn't on the computer and we will not serve you if your name isn't in the computer, the computer deletes you and marks you as no-show if you don't show up 10 minutes after the scheduled time."
I pleaded to them again to let me stay as a waiting-list case. "No, we don't do waiting list with walk-ins.", the girl said.
It really pissed me off at that point, because in the good old days when my same doctor didn't have that new fancy computer appointment system, I would be able to sit and wait for the next open slot even I was late for my appointment. But back then, it was also a different person who manned the counter. She was the old-school type who reminded me of a generation of very friendly secretaries assumed by baby boomers. Now I get these 20 something who are totally robotic and inflexible. I hope they will all be replaced by robots in a few years because I'd rather deal with a robot than a stupid human with zero flexibility.
Now I am rescheduled and my appointment will be more than a month later. A lot can happen in a month, sometimes it means life and death. If my doctor doesn't see me next month and an illness kills me due to the lack of proper medical detection in time, she may also wonder, "XXX hasn't come in for years. She probably has lost her insurance or she is too cheap to want to spend the copay to come in." But little will she know I tried to get in to see her twice and I was turned away by her inflexible staff.
I have health insurance so sometimes patients don't see their doctors frequent enough isn't because they don't have health insurance. It's because they can't get through the lazy and inflexible gatekeepers. Having health insurance and having access to healthcare can be two separate things. Dear doctors, if you want your patients to come see you more, make it easier for them to schedule and reschedule appointments, don't have your staff turn them away at the reception area if they are late, give them the option and opportunity to amend their "no-shows" or to prevent their "late arrival" from turning into a complete "no-show", if they are willing. This is what I will do if only I run a medical practice.
