Sophia and I waited a half hour to be seen at her eye doctor visit yesterday. Not bad, I think, in the realm of waiting times for a doctor's office. I wonder what most patients consider intolerable for a wait time. 45 minutes? An hour? People defnitely start to pace at the 45-minute mark and then begin to get very angry when it's been a hour. What most patients don't realize is how badly a doctor wants to stay on schedule. I absolutely abhor running behind; I hate keeping my patients waiting, but somehow, somewhere along the line, the practice of medicine has become such that it's practically impossible not to fall behind with every patient a doctor sees. To survive, to keep our office running, to pay the malpractice insurance, the staff, their health insurance, not to mention the electric bills, we have to book patients every 15 minutes. But can a well-visit for a child ever take just 15 minutes? Only if the parent has no questions or if I don't engage the child in conversation. And I refuse to do that! And for a sick visit, it takes time to examine a screaming, crying febrile toddler. In between these visits, there are phone calls to return, school and sports forms to fill, and consult letters to be read.
So I desperately try to stay on schedule but invariably fall behind. Sometimes I can sense the ire of the waiting room as I patiently coax a child to open her mouth in an exam room, but I've learned to stay calm, proceed as efficiently as I can, and hope that everyone will understand.
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