sixtyPercent: Cochlear Implants, Aviation, Technlology, and Philosophy 2005/05/10
Waiting for the Doctor
I had a second visit to SOAR (Sports Orthopedic and Rehabilitation) this week to check on my back, which had been in quite a lot of pain. A friend had recommend this clinic, and Dr. Joel Saal in particular. After arriving early, checking in, and then going to an exam room, I then waited 40 minutes in a windowless, magazine-less tiny room for the doctor to arrive. Outside I heard things like "Is Dr. Saal here yet?" "Tell him to go right to room #2 when he gets here", etc.
Normally I wouldn't use this forum to complain about this sort of thing. Except this is a private clinic which can manage their patient load; and this was the second time the same thing happened; and when I asked if a 40 minute wait (past the scheduled appointment time) was acceptable, three nurses all grimaced and noded their heads with sad looks on their faces, saying "did you tell Dr. Saal? You should tell him." Apparently this is normal, patients are complaining, and it's not getting through to the right person. At one point, one of the staff mentioned that they didn't know what to do about this problem.
A long time ago, I read (or at least skimmed) Gallwey's The Inner Game of Tennis. I think I remember one lesson from that book (but it could have been another) about just relaxing and observing a single important factor, rather than thinking carefully through the task and trying to get all of the sub-details right. I think a follow-on book discussed this exact situation -- patients complaining about long waits (past the appointment time) at a medical office. The "solution" proposed was simple: just write down the amount of time each and every patients is made to wait. Eventually the problem took care of itself. I hope SOAR can apply this or some other lesson, but on my next visit, I'll be sure to bring a book!
by David Creemer : 2005/05/10 : Categories life : 0 trackbacks : 9 comments (permalink)
