I was in Pharma sales for many years. Thatâs a whole topic on its own. 
My bottom line is: You made this appointment time. I held up my end of the bargain but you think you can skate free on my dime?
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I showed. They didnât. Iâll charge them for my time.
Kind of novel, isnât it?
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I sympathize with you greatly, however, itâs not the doctorsâ fault most of the time- a lot of times, it is a talkative, incredibly sick, or disgruntled patient that is at fault. I, too have had to wait, even over an hour once, at an eye doctorâs appointment, or over 20 min. at the orthopedistâs. In the case of the eye doctorâs, I had to leave to go to a therapy appt. and reschedule. It sucks, I know. But a lot of the time, the doctor canât help it.
Youâre right, itâs Father Time. Everyone is working, living, breathing in borrowed time. What a stupid response.
This is actually an interesting discussion and centers around a conflict most doctors have. Would you want your doctor cut your visit short so they can get to the next patient?
Sounds to me that @DMK doctor is like thousands of others who are reimbursed on the tradtional fee for service model. have. They scheudle the maximum number of patients per day which sets them up for patient abrasion such as @DMK experienced because invariable they fall behind.
One of the innovations my employer is piloting is replacing fee for service with fee for value.
This is a payment model that is centered around the doctor focusing on patient care and value based outcomes.
Traditionally doctors are reimbursed per patient which encouraged a sort of factory floor approach this model rewards doctors financially for improved patient outcomes and reducing health care costs.
For example if a doctor is working with an asthma patient and reduces the number of ER visits that has improved the patients health and reduced health care costs.
At first doctors were skeptical but now the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Doctors can spend more time with their patients and not see a reduction in your reimbursements.
This also eliminates the need for doctors to schedule an incredibly high number of patients each day.
My appointment is at 3:30. As far as I am concerned that is a contract.
My time is valuable
I will be billing this doctor for MY time wasted.
That is on them. Not on me.
I suspect you will find in the reams of paperwork we all sign there is a clause that indemnifies the doctor against such billing from patients.
I just did a google search and found that some patients have done what @DMK is going to do and with some success.
Interesting.
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It is an interesting discussion, is it not?
The thing is? Iâm an expert in my field. Iâd never expect someone to wait on me for 40 minutes AFTER pir scheduled appointment time.
Yet, we have come to accept that from physicians
Why?.
I think I answered part of that question in an earlier post but I suppose its because we dont view healthcare as a consumer interaction which leads us into a whole other discussion.
I have an appointment time.
I confirm.
They donât hold to that.
I will bill them for my time. Novel, isnât it?
We get it. You have said this repeatedly. Send then a bill and let us know what they say.
I get the feeling you dont want to discuses anything because your not adding anything new.
I am interested to know how the doctor responds.
Who is âweâ?
I will. You and I both know what the answer will be.
The point of the matter is to stop wasting peopleâs time, Especially when you have very little time to give.
The doctor wonât respond. You and I both know that.
What I am doing is frivolous. However, it is relevant to point out that your time is valuable. Why is a doctorâs time more valuable?
Do you have a regular doctor that you go to all the time?
Why not ask that individual why it is that doctors fall behind all the time? The insight they give might humble you a little bit.
I donât go to doctorâs myself, but I have to take my mom periodically. She normally has to wait 15-20 minutes for the doctor, past her appointment time. We know this going in. Weâre not talkers - we each bring a book and enjoy the chance to read it.
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Because theyâve spent 10 years making it so?
Like the old saw about the electrician. Comes out, takes 5 minutes to do a job, bills the customer $100.
âI have to pay you $100 to twist a knob and push a button?â
âNo you have to pay me to know what knob and button to push.â
Not my problem, Alex.
I pay their bills. Not the other way around.
Back when my time was valuable ( ), like if I was leaving work for an appointment, I would always call ahead right before I left to check and see if the practitioner was on time or running late. They didnât seem to mind checking and there were times I was able to stay at work 15 or 20 minutes longer before leaving.
A few years ago we switched insurance and clinics. The appointments here are remarkably on time. And right when you walk in there is a large board listing each practitioner and whether they are on time, 15 minutes late, 30 minutes late. So at least you can know right away.
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So what? That is their choice.
Iâve spent that amount of time in my field plus 14 hours of mandatory continuing education every two years. Not to be confused with actual education on a daily basis.
If I were to run my business on the same model that doctors do? Meh. Iâd be out of business.
The ONLY reason you have to wait? Is because you choose to do so.
That is awesome.
See, the only thing I am asking is for mutual respect of each otherâs time.
That isnât so difficult is it?
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Unless you paid the doctor he doesnât owe you anything.
