Bill Your Doctor (Take 2)

[ParaTed2k]

Have you ever sat in a clinic waiting room long after the time of your appointment passed?

Once you were brought into an exam room; weighed, vitaled and questioned. Have you sat for who knows how long, waiting to be seen by the doctor?

Has the doctor's staff members explained the long wait by saying something like, "The doctor is running a little behind today."

On the other hand, have you been late or missed an appointment, then been billed by your doctor because, "that time could have been filled by someone else."??

So, why is the doctor's time more valuable than your time? Why are we supposed to just "understand" when the doctor is running late, but if you are, well they don't understand... in fact, they are willing to accept payment for services not rendered.

So, turn about being fair play...

BILL YOUR DOCTOR!

If you are forced to wait more than a reasonable time for an appointment you both agreed to... Bill them!

Please, can someone explain the difference?

[ParaTed2k]

Now, let's see if we can discuss this without getting hijacked. ;~D

[lsbskins1]

I work in a doctor's office where 3 hour waits are the rule and not the exception. The reasons for this are various. Our doctors are all specialists and surgeons. Sometimes, they have a surgery that takes longer than expected. Sometimes they get called into emergency surgery. Sometimes, they are on time and hitting the exam rooms and the guy who set up the appointment for a bum left knee figures "what the hell, why not discuss the shoulder that has been bothering me, too", and sometimes it is because that deposition with the attorney that was supposed to last an hour goes to 2 hours. But, in all honesty, it is equally because some friend of the doctor got "squeezed in" or because the doctor was on the phone talking about his upcoming trip to Paris. The causes are, as I said varried. But the most troublesome problem: demand. There really are not enough doctors in the world to meet the demand for service. We schedule at least 40 patients a day to see a given doctor and twice that many want to get in the office. Doctors have to constantly ballance the demand for more units of care against the need and ethical resonsibility to provide quality care.

[ParaTed2k]

True, sometimes the reasons for the wait are more valid than others. However, if the clinic is going to bill me if I'm too late, or miss completely, then it is only fair for them to pay me when they are too late, or miss the appointment completely.

Why is the doctor's time sacred but the patient's time worthless?

Thanks for your candor.

[lsbskins1]

Quote by: ParaTed2k True, sometimes the reasons for the wait are more valid than others. However, if the clinic is going to bill me if I'm too late, or miss completely, then it is only fair for them to pay me when they are too late, or miss the appointment completely. Why is the doctor's time sacred but the patient's time worthless? Thanks for your candor.

Our office does not bill for missed appointments or short notice cancelations. The reason some do is exactly because of the fact that 2 or 3 different people would have given their eye teeth for the appointment someone does not show up for. But the truth of the matter is that many professions that schedule adhere to the same practice. Some Hair Salons have the same policy. I'd bet some lawyers do the same thing. They do it because the market bears it. It discourages you from missing. From a supply and demand standpoint, in that instance, for that service, your time is effectively less valuable than the doctors. Not from a "moral" standpoint, but most definitely from the perspective of supply and demand.

[ParaTed2k]

Quote by: lsbskins1 Our office does not bill for missed appointments or short notice cancelations. The reason some do is exactly because of the fact that 2 or 3 different people would have given their eye teeth for the appointment someone does not show up for. But the truth of the matter is that many professions that schedule adhere to the same practice. Some Hair Salons have the same policy. I'd bet some lawyers do the same thing. They do it because the market bears it. It discourages you from missing. From a supply and demand standpoint, in that instance, for that service, your time is effectively less valuable than the doctors. Not from a "moral" standpoint, but most definitely from the perspective of supply and demand.

And if any other "professional" informs me of such a policy, I will add them to my list of people I will bill when they miss the appointment they scheduled with me.

You are right, it is a "supply and demand" thing, and they have every right to their policies. I am just claiming the same right... and encouraging others to do the same.

We will continue to be treated like we don't matter, as long as we continue to prove that they are right.

[lsbskins1]

Quote by: ParaTed2k And if any other "professional" informs me of such a policy, I will add them to my list of people I will bill when they miss the appointment they scheduled with me. You are right, it is a "supply and demand" thing, and they have every right to their policies. I am just claiming the same right... and encouraging others to do the same. We will continue to be treated like we don't matter, as long as we continue to prove that they are right.

You have every right to try. If the market will bear it, you will get some money. I doubt that it will, but nobody says you can't try.

[ParaTed2k]

Quote by: lsbskins1 You have every right to try. If the market will bear it, you will get some money. I doubt that it will, but nobody says you can't try.

I don't expect to get rich doing it. It's more the statement that I'm interested in anyway. Just a reminder to them that they have the same responsibility to keep their appointments than they expect of me.

[Matt W]

Why do we have an exact duplicate thread here? If the other one has been 'hijacked' then make the effort to steer it back on topic.

[ParaTed2k]

Quote by: Matt W Why do we have an exact duplicate thread here? If the other one has been 'hijacked' then make the effort to steer it back on topic.

Why make people wade through a river of off topic posts? The other thread is hijacked and the people who hijacked it have no interest in the actual topic. I'll just abandon that one to them.

Do you have anything to add to the topic?

[GSM:Xtreme]

Quote by: lsbskins1 Our office does not bill for missed appointments or short notice cancellations. The reason some do is exactly because of the fact that 2 or 3 different people would have given their eye teeth for the appointment someone does not show up for.

So they see it as their responsibility to punish us, nice... as if i had needed another mother

[ParaTed2k]

Quote by: GSM:Xtreme So they see it as their responsibility to punish us, nice... as if i had needed another mother

Exactly! Since when does the medical profession have the authority to exact fines?

[lsbskins1]

Hey, you are free to pick another doctor who does not charge that fee. It's sort of like picking between a movie rental place that charges 5.00 per movie whether you keep the movie 2 hours or 3 days, or one that charges 2.00 a day, period. Nobody is making you go to a doctor that charges the cancellation fee. But, if you really like the doctor otherwise, you accept the practice. If enough patients complain or leave, they will stop. That is how the free market is supposed to work. Of course, you could also lobby your representatives and ask for regulation that would end the practice. If enough people write letters and make phone calls, and enough representatives feel enough pressure, the bill will pass, and the practice will be outlawed. You have options.