I blogged on this Re: Quadruple-Booked & 8-Hour Waits

[Guest guest]

Folks -- Yesterday (July 4th), in the morning before I worked a 6-hour urgent

care shift, I wrote up a blog about this issue and my $5 bill bit. Below is the

link. I apologize for some sloppy sentences and some mediocre grammar, but I was

mostly writing extemporaneously and it was 8am on a holiday.

Basically, I wanted to offer a perspective of why I choose to do that, and also

explain some the struggles for the docs, some of the struggles for the patients,

and that ultimately we all have to " cut each other some slack " in this toxic

environment of modern health care while still doing the best we can. It all must

be for the benefit of the doctor-patient relationship.

http://drmaliareckons.posterous.com/waiting-in-doctors-offices-supporting-relati\

o

I absolutely agree that this is a " touchy " issue, and as previously noted I

think a patient sending an invoice for time waiting only adds to a relationship

that is likely toxic already, but, let's be honest, there will be no news

coverage or opportunities to open discussion if an issue is not touchy. That

would be like a husband and wife on the verge of divorce going to a counselor

and not discussing the couple's infidelity as it's " touchy! "

By the way, a good number of comments were from patients who defended doctors

with the idea of " I'd rather wait and know the care is good... "

--Tim

Malia, MD

(phone / fax)

www.MaliaFamilyMedicine.com

www.SkinSenseLaser.com

Malia Family Medicine & Skin Sense Laser

6720 Pittsford-Palmyra Rd.

Perinton Square Mall

Fairport, NY 14450

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Re: Quadruple-Booked & 8-Hour Waits

Pam,

I agree that this story has hit a nerve. I disagree that it is a good news

story.

I think I understand your rationale about trying to reach the masses, but I

disagree that this is a good way to get IMP issues out to a broader audience.

This article has struck a nerve among the doctors on and off the listserve, and

not in a good way. The CNN article implied that doctors waste their patients'

time for flimsy reasons and because they don't respect patients. It used one

anecdote about a gynecologist who ran late while her patients could do paperwork

to reinforce the misconception that most doctors don't care about their

patients' time. It didn't give the doctors' side of the story as to why they may

be running late which we know is usually due to trying to take care of too many

patients and not having enough time to do so. It is not the fault of the doctor

most of the time, but patients can use this article to further blame their

doctor.

In my opinion, this is a " junk news " approach to solving deeper issues by

appealing to the lowest common denominator. I know we live in the age of social

media but I don't think we should focus on how many " likes " and " dislikes " this

kind of article is getting. Any article that talks about " greedy uncaring

doctors " will be " liked " by anyone who has ever had a bad experience with their

physician.

I think you believe that any publicity that gets people talking about the poor

delivery of medical care is a good thing, but I believe there is such a thing as

bad publicity, and that actual practicing physicians are being hurt by this.

Somewhere out there, physicians are being unfairly presented with invoices for

waiting times that are out of their control, while somewhere else relationships

between physicians and their patients are being poisoned. Blame is being

directed at the wrong target. And we as an organization need those targets to

support us and our efforts to reform the healthcare system. If you continue to

foster stories that paint physicians in a bad light, and somehow link the Ideal

Medical Practice movement to those stories, we could be blamed for this and this

could hurt the IMP movement.

You have a right to pursue what you think is best, but I don't think you should

pull the IMP movement along with you if that is not a direction that the members

of the IMP organization want to take. I am speaking as an individual. I am not

on the IMP Board of Directors, just an unpaid volunteer who thinks there has got

to be a better way to get our voices heard without denigrating or sacrificing

our colleagues.

Seto

South Pasadena, CA

From CNN comments:

I once was waiting a long time in my doctors office and there

were a lot of people waiting. I started asking people what time

their appt was for and it turned out there were 4 of us with the

same appt time. I switched doctors.

and another . . .

I once had regular appointments with a specialist that involved

waits of at least two hours. I got to know the other patients in

the room pretty well. There was the guy who was a Mason and

did all of his studying in this docs waiting room. There was the

patient whose wife drove him. The waits were so long that she

would drop him off, go see a movie, check in, see another movie

and so on. The last straw was when I had a 1PM appointment and

didn't see the doc till 9PM. Yes, I felt like a chump but this was

the guy that was in network. I complained to my family physician

and got re-referred. On my first visit to him, my wait was 12

minutes and the doc apologized all over the place. I could hardly

stop laughing as I told him the bar wasn't very high.

There is so much frustration (rightfully so) out there. Now is the

time for deeper conversation. This topic really hits a nerve for

everyone which is why it is such a good news story.

Pamela

Pamela Wible, MD

3575 St. #220

Eugene, OR 97405

www.idealmedicalcare.org

" (S)He is the best physician who is the most ingenious inspirer of hope. "

~ Coleridge