A local Drs practice is doing this for people who have missed three appt in one year regardless of reasons !

What about people who are so severely depressed they cant pick up the phone to cancel ?

What if you are an epileptic and have a fit ?

What if your car breaks down on the way to the Drs and you don't have a phone on you ?

What if ....

I am disgusted by this I feel they have a right to be annoyed and to do something but this is so wrong they should make allowances for people who are special needs !

Does anyone here agree/disagree with me ?

Love to hear your views.

[sugahorse1]

I think it's disgusting. Each case needs to be looked at individually. And I'm sure in most instances, there may well be another patient waiting that can take up the place of the other patient. That way, if you are running late, you can just swap time slots.

People that genuinely being rude and not cancelling - they need to be noted though. An appointment that they choose to not make, costs the doctor in turnover and it is a time-slot that could have been allocated to another patient on a cancellation list.

I just heard about one woman who had an appt on the Monday morning, on the Sunday night she had something go wrong with her brain and was air lifted to the local hospital.

She was in hospital for a few weeks and on her return read a letter telling her this was the second time she had missed an appt and if it happened again she would be removed from their list !

I don't know if she appealed or not I do not know what happened but surely they would of looked at her record to see what had happened ! They WAS informed she was air lifted to hospital and why.

[KathyM]

That seems very harsh Tishie. If people had adequate reminders of appointments and a means to reschedule by phone, the amount of missed appointments would be greatly reduced. If a person misses their appointment due to a hospital emergency, it shouldn't even be considered a missed appointment. When such a rare occasion occurs, the doctors could make good use of that time by either spending a few extra minutes with patients, writing up reports, or making phone calls.

[sabby]

I don't think it's right to write them off their list. Not at all.

What they could do is to have an overall rule that states if you miss 3 appts. without cancelling, then you are on a call in basis. In other words, you call in and if they have an appt. open that day, you are given that appt. No making appts. in the future kind of thing. The offices that I know who do that, leave a certain amount of booking time for those cases and they find it works to keep the no call/no shows down. Of course, there are extenuating circumstances that should be taken into consideration as well, such as you mentioned.

[AAAAA]

This is a pretty common practice here. Plus if you miss an appointment you are still billed for an office call if you do not cancel within 24 hours.

Each doctor has four rooms. Therefore they have a patient in each room. Appointments (unless specified for another reason in advance) are made 15 minutes apart. If you do not get the first appointment of the day you can be sitting in the waiting room forever.

I know this has little to do with your original post, but in my opinion they should stop overbooking! I understand emergencies, but if my appointment is at 9:00 and I don't even get into a room until 10:00 and sit there for another 30 minutes before I see the doctor I deserve compensation!

[madisgram]

well i guess the doctor has a right to how he runs his practice. time is money as the saying goes. i'm having trouble understanding if the appts. were broken or cancelled. i think it's a reasonable policy for chronic no shows. i too don't like to wait forever if i show up for an apointed time and wait forever to see the doc. that is unacceptable too.
i'll probably get busted by replies but that's my viewpoint on it. i'm confidant exceptions can/will be made if a patient has exceptional needs.

[Amazonmom]

My T charges the full rate for appts cancelled less than 24 hours ahead. That being said...I never got charged for the appts where my daughter woke up in a giant itchy scaly rash and I took her into the doc instead of going to T. My OB office never charged me for the appt I accidentally slept through at 39 weeks. But in both cases I have a history of always showing up and being on time.

An office can't afford to have patients chronically being no shows. Another provider might better be able to meet their needs.

I also think it's unfair of providers to quadruple stack appointments and make us wait hours past appt time. One OB appt took so long for the doc to come in that I had fallen asleep on the exam table. The OB was so embarassed! It wasn't like she was at a delivery, she was just being slow that day.

[Rhiannonsmoon]

Our local practice charges for missed appointments if you don't call to cancel; that is fair because someone else could have been seen. And there have been times I've had to call and get an appointment, and I always get one if someone has called to cancel but if they haven't I can't get in. If it's urgent and the urgent appointments are filled I have to wait.

But I think striking them off seems rather extreme to me unless they have several patients a day not showing up if that is the case I understand it. But really if the circumstances are the same as the lady who went to hospital then that isn't fair.

The letter people receive could also be a form computer generated letter that is sent to people who miss an appointment. If that is the case then because it is a form mail it will just go to everyone who misses and encourages the courtesy call to the doctor rather than just not turning up.

Try not to let it stress you too much Tishie, there are reasons and ways around things which are designed to make things run as smoothly as possible.

Originally Posted by madisgram

well i guess the doctor has a right to how he runs his practice. time is money as the saying goes. i'm having trouble understanding if the appts. were broken or cancelled. i think it's a reasonable policy for chronic no shows. i too don't like to wait forever if i show up for an apointed time and wait forever to see the doc. that is unacceptable too.
i'll probably get busted by replies but that's my viewpoint on it. i'm confidant exceptions can/will be made if a patient has exceptional needs.

You will not get busted ! I asked for peoples views and you gave me yours ....

[Melbadaze]

I'd want to know a bit more, I personally respect any appointments I Have and come hell or high water make them or if I can't I have cancelled in plenty of time. I often see notices in my surgery about people and missed appointments and guess this is because its becoming a problem. If it is becoming a problem then something does need to be done about it, but as I say I'd need to know more details on the being struck off angle, but sometimes thats the only message some seem to understand.

[AAAAA]

I fully understand the business aspect of things, however under "normal" circumstances we wouldn't be seeing these medical professionals if we were at our best.

I am HORRIBLE about follow up appointments. My doctor understood this about me and would not request another appointment unless it was absolutely necessary. He would decide my medications based upon the fact that I am virtually non-compliant. We discussed Lithium at one point but he said "you really need to do the follow up blood work for that and we both know you're not going to show up for that." It was not meant as an insult, merely a statement of fact. Plus, as I said, he knew me well.

[Lilleth]

My son tried to get an appointment with our family doctor but was told he was no longer registered at the surgery. Our family have been with the surgery for over 30 years. He has been registered there since bith I believe because he has rarely attened the surgery in many years thats the reason they took his name off. It seems to be a thing thats happening for the last year or so they strike you off. I know of other people this has happened too.

[AAAAA]

That is another very common yet annoying thing here. We only go to the doctor when we absolutely have to. If you do not see a doctor in the clinic for a 12 month period you are once again a "new patient". Which means that you have to fill out all of the paperwork again and you are charged the higher new patient charges for the office call.

Originally Posted by AAAAA

That is another very common yet annoying thing here. We only go to the doctor when we absolutely have to. If you do not see a doctor in the clinic for a 12 month period you are once again a "new patient". Which means that you have to fill out all of the paperwork again and you are charged the higher new patient charges for the office call.

After all the things you keep saying about your Drs surgery I am glad mine are the way they are lol...

Sorry but it sounds so harsh where you live.

[madisgram]

Originally Posted by Tishie

You will not get busted ! I asked for peoples views and you gave me yours ....

thanks Tishie for your kind reply!

[AAAAA]

Medicine has become big business. I greatly regret that my beloved doctor moved three hours away. I have actually concidered seeing him there. He worked for the company so he had little control over the things mentioned in this thread but when one of us went in with the flu or something contagious he would write Rxs for all of us to fill as needed so we didn't all need to go in. If hubby went in for his diabetis follow ups and I or one of the kids were sick, he would see us without billing us. He truly was an old fashion doctor that knew his patients and cared about them.

[Skully]

Yes I agree that this is wrong to do. But, I can also see the Dr's side of this. Imagine that you need to be seen right away because you are feeling very down and need to have a med adjustment. But there are no appointments available that day. As it turns out, one of those people who miss their appointments happen to not show up that day. That was a time slot you could have used but it was filled by some idiot who doesn't care about others. Yes, I agree there are special circumstances and they should be considered. but I think a lot has to do with people who will go off their meds during the year and feel they are ok and don't bother to cancel "just in case". I hate to see people like that but they are out there.

[sunrise]

Originally Posted by AAAAA

Medicine has become big business. I greatly regret that my beloved doctor moved three hours away.

That is hard. My own gynecologist of 11 years changed to practicing for an HMO earlier this year, and I am going to miss her. She was with me through a couple of problems and also did my surgery. I can't see her anymore because I'm not part of the HMO. In fact, she will lose all of her patients (her choice, of course). I wish health care wasn't so fractured, with your insurance dictating what providers you can see. I wish you could just see the best doctor for your situation without having to worry what HMO they work for, what provider network they're part of, etc.

[lonegael]

I try to keep in mind what is going on with my patients. Some of my patients have parents who are depressed or ADHD, or are so themselves. Those are the folks I try to give more leeway to. I have myself been in periods where I have been so disorganized that I cold not keep appointments outside of the regular schedule to save my life. literally. I was hugely aware of the inconvenience it caused and felt horrible about it, but it was a problem beyond courtesy at that point. Now my mds work better it is seldom a problem, but I am very much in favor of an SMS reminder system that they are talking about at my work place. It might well be different in the regular med system, but to put that typeof three strikes and you're out system in where I work would penalize the exact same people we are trying to help for the stuff we are trying to help them with. Not cool when it is related to symptoms they can't control, understandable if it is a simple blow-off.

[amandalouise]

doctors around here also charge for the appointments that you miss if you havent called within 24 hours of the appointment to cancel it, and they have been know to remove people from their list if the person has not come in at least once during the year. They set that cut off line because most people see their doctors at least once a year for yearly physicals, medication changes, school physicals if they are in any type of school programs , and younger kids usually need their boosters and vaccinations at least once a year depending on the vaccination and their records.

[sunrise]

Originally Posted by lonegael

an SMS reminder system

What is that?

[Eleora]

Unfortunately, I see where the doctors are coming from. As legit as some of the reasons may be, it not only costs physicians money to have missed appointments but it also means someone else with health problems, (physical and mental) may not get treatment they need because another person has used up the appointment spots with no-shows.

I work in a clinic sometimes as part of my job and there is nothing more annoying or disheartening than having to turn people away only to have 5 people not even bother to call or say why they didn't show up.

[AAAAA]

I am not aware of any private practice MD clinic in this area. All clinics and offices are run by Corporations. The doctors are paid the same whether they see 5 or 50 patients. That corporation cares nothing about my health or what is going on in my life, they only want my $$$.

My last doctor left the clinic because the Corp in charge wanted to change her contract and raise her patient list from 3 an hour to 6. She did not feel she could give her patients the care they needed and stay on schedule so she left. The 5 years I doctored with her were the only time that I actually made my female appointments. I had no choice, if I went in for a sinus infection and she saw that my pap was over due she'd hand me a gown after dealing with the infection and do the pap.

I do think it is very rude not to call and cancel an appointment in a timely manner.

[splitimage]

All my Dr's and my T and my dietician charge for missed appointments.

As for being struck of the list for not being in in a year - I disagree with that, if you're healthy and don't need to see the Dr. that's a good thing. My Dr. does send out a form each year, explaining the list of services not covered by public insurance and what each costs. You have the option of prepaying a set amount that then covers you for all fee services, which is a good deal for people with families, or you can choose to pay as you go. They do ask that you return the form, even if you're choosing pay as you go, as it helps them keep their patient database up to date, but there have been years where I've forgotten to send it back, and I've never had a problem.

I think one of the main differences up here is called duty of care. Dr's can just drop patients, unless they retire / move/ close their practice. They have an obligation to refer you to another Dr. that is accepting patients, which is so much hassle it's just easier to keep inactive patients. For example when my pdoc left the hospital and the city, it became the hospital's responsibility to assign me another pdoc.

--splitimage