By end of day the office can be completely off schedule and backed up. I’ve waited up to an hour and a half in the past. Once I started going for the early appointments, I’m in and out on time.
I’m lucky, I have the luxury of using sick time for medical appointments and have plenty of sick time in my contract. We are “suggested” to book outside of work hours whenever possible, but if not we can use sick time and do NOT have to make up the time. Once I stopped being a hero and trying to book after work, things went much more smoothly at appointments. It’s actually more efficient, despite not being “on the way home”.
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The last doctors app I made was at 3 pm right after work.
I waited 2 hours to see the doctor. Fuck.
Yes, first appointment of the morning, or first appointment after lunch.
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I did this once and still waited 45 minutes as a parade of pharmacutical reps came in and out of the doctor’s office. I told the receptionist to cancel my appointment and not call me to reschedule. I never went back to that doc.
Nah doctors are always late (I work with them.) your appt might start at 8 but they won’t roll in until 8:15 to even clock in. And they dilly dally after lunch.
If you really want a quick appointment time, pick the times no one ever wants to take- between 10 and 1.
If you can, see a doctor that leaves gaps in their appointments so that they don’t run late/can accept same day appointments if they aren’t running behind.
I booked the first appointment of the day and it didn’t really work out…I arrived before the doctor did, and she still started my appointment late.
Unfortunately, mornings and I are mortal enemies. Getting out of the house before 9 or 10 makes me sick for the entire day. Thanks, chronic illness (leading to SO many appointments).
This might work if your doctor’s office doesn’t book three or more patients per timeslot to maximize their profits.
Sadly, I’ve frequently been the first appointment of the day and I’ve still had to wait 20-30 mins beyond my appt time
if i go to my eye specialist, i always ask for first appointment. i will even wait 3-4 weeks to have it. if i have to take an afternoon appointment i just have to block everything off as most times they are 2-3hrs behind. one time i went in for a 3pm appointment. i didnt get seen till 6pm. and they wanted me to come back to do more tests as other departments had gone home. told them that is not my problem they took to long. the nurse for the DR had to do the tests cause i refused to come back.
I worked as a medical secretary for a bit and earliest of the day is the way to go. The doctors I served often would still be late, typically coming from early morning meetings (that was the message to the patients), but it was far better than how backed up we got later in the day.
I quickly learned to manage expectations when scheduling patients. I would warn patients that if they absolutely needed to be out by a specific time, it would be best to schedule early in the morning. Still a good chance they’d have to wait (depending on how many others got early morning appointments), but the wait would be much less than it would be later in the day.
I served a specialist service, so usually they only had one day a week in clinic (the rest in the OR). My doctors liked me to schedule as many as possible into their clinic day. They always felt that if they were simply alotted more examination rooms they wouldn’t run late. However, the only time the doctor I served the longest didn’t run behind was because he got scheduled in to assist an afternoon surgery on his clinic day and he actually stuck tight to the official 10-minute followup appointment length. Usually he’d spend as much time with patients to catch up on their progress and review their MRIs thoroughly. (I couldn’t increase the length of these appointments because it was based on insurance and hospital appointment type standards.)
Once I was the last appointment and the doctor forgot about me and left.
He stepped out during the examination to get something and forgot about me.
Same with the DMV!!!
It’s the opposite at the clinic I work at. Our doctor is often running late in the morning, or the first patient is. By the last two hours of the day, he’s made up for the delays and is back on schedule or running ahead of time.
But early in the morning I’m completely off schedule and backed up :/
I did this once and then waited an hour because the doctor I needed doesn’t clock in until 8:30 and wasn’t ready for patients until 9. Don’t even know why they had 8 am appointments available if the only person there was the secretary and a nurse.
I always try to do this, and I always wait until after the appointment to have breakfast, just in case they want to do a test that requires me to have been fasting beforehand (e.g. cholesterol).
I’ve worked at multiple medical offices. This is the best strategy but still doesn’t work very well, for a few reasons:
Again, the strategy is still sound and the LPT is valid. Booking the first appointment of the day (or first after lunch) is going to have shorter average waiting time than most other times. But it may be longer than you think.
Depending on the doctor, one of the last slots of the day can be better since some really want to leave on time and will make sure those last slots are more timely. But that’s personal – I’ve seen docs who were scheduled until 5 and gone by 510 every day, and others who’d be there until 8.
The me who books early appointments is not the me who has to get up and get dressed early.
My husband is on nights. I’m a housewife, so I’m awake when he is. Mornings are not our friend
If it’s something small like for a prescription renewal or just going over test results, I plan it for as late as I can on a Friday. They’ll get me back and out as fast as they can.
I hate the doctor and always book the last appointment of the day so they want to rush me out.
Be the first appointment, show up kinda late and ruin the day for everyone else.
Instructions unclear
Also take into account traffic conditions to avoid rush hours
No thanks I am good. Ill rather wait an additional 15-30. minutes then have to get up at 5AM for a 7 AM appointment
Also plan to arrive 5-10 minutes early. Worst case you wait an extra 5-10 minutes, best and most often the case you get in 5-10 minutes early.
I once had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for 7:30am and the doctor did not arrive until just before 8:00am 🙁 she’s an amazing doctor in every other regard so I let it slide
One time my dad waited so long they actually locked up the office before they realized he was still in the waiting room. Like they could see him if they looked, they just…didn’t.
This works for me most of the time. I even had a Dr. come in early for me.
I recommend the same thing with dog grooming appointments!
same for surgery!
My wife is a doctor and has the worst time management of any person I’ve met in my entire life. I doubt she’s been on time to her first appointment of the day more than five times in the last year.
I wish that worked for my doctors. I always book early morning appointments. I sometimes see them walking in the door after my appointment time, then I have to wait for them to get settled in. It’s usually 15-25 minutes after my appointment starts.
Same with moving companies. Always the 1st appt.
Jokes on you, my mother usually took the first appointment for her ultrasounds at 8 but often had to wait until 9
It’s usually good to book the first surgery/procedure/colonoscopy of the day as well if available. You will avoid delays and any emergencies that may bump your case back further than scheduled.
When my wife was pregnant with one of our kids, forget which one, we booked the first appointment of the day at the OB. We get there, checked in, nurses do their normal blood pressure, weight, etc. We wait.
We wait.
We ask the nurse what’s up, our appointment was at 8 am. Nurse tells us the doctor never comes in before 9.
They start their day an hour behind schedule. They book appointments every 15 minutes. I would understand the doc showing up at 8:15, cuz the check-in procedure takes a few minutes sure. But an hour? They’re 4 patients deep before they even hit the parking lot.
My doctors always seem to run right on time no matter when my appointment is.
Doesn’t always work. My last specialist appointment was for 8am, right when the office opened. The doctor didn’t even get in until 8:20.
Yeah it’s great hustling to get out the door and getting there 40 minutes before the doctor and watching him stroll in and make you wait a little more just for funsies
This applies for virtually any type of appointment you’re trying to schedule.
Need a tech to fix your AC unit but only want to miss an hour or two of work? Be the first person he see’s that day and you’ll probably see him right on time. Schedule him in the afternoon and you’ll only see him on time if his first 4 jobs went smoothly with no surprises.
Last time I did this, the appointment was still late because the dr. And his staff were having team breakfast. No shit.
Unless that particular doctor takes advantage of Medicare and Medicaid and opens appointments at 7 but doesn’t show up until 10 and started churning out patients every 5 mins. My grandma, who I had to give rides to, saw her once a month.
I hope the doctor eventually got in trouble for that.
SUPER LPT: not only book the earliest… SHOW UP EARLY. AND BE NICE.
more than half the time, if i show up 45-60min early, done and out the door before my scheduled appointment.
The real secret is, if flying in the winter, book the first flight in the morning. Otherwise, say your flight is at 3pm. And the plane for your flight is coming from another city, and supposed to leave at 11am. But there’s snow in the other city. And so it doesn’t leave until 3. You can’t leave until your plane is actually there. So their delay became your delay. Doubly bad when that delay causes the flight crew to max out the number of hours that they can work in a day. So even after your plane’s there, they need to find another crew to staff it.
If you fly out at 6 or 7am, the plane is generally already there from overnight. And your only risk is the weather risk of your own city. (And to a lesser extent, the weather of the city of your destination).
My old doctor started taking appointments at 8am. He didn’t show up until 8:30.
Also, if your doctor orders blood tests and you need to fast for them, you can get your bloodwork done right away if you haven’t eaten yet! (Lucky for me, the lab is right across the hall from my doctors office, and bloodwork doesn’t require an appointment)
eh it’s not always best. my doctor is a hour away and often call to cancel while we’re going to our appointment. so it sucks.
I book the first appointment of the morning and still end up waiting half the time. 🙄
My GP’s booking calendar started 15 minutes before she was in the office for… reasons, so even if you got the first appointment you’d be at least 15 minutes waiting. If you got the 2nd appointment though, all bets were off because she would spend absolutely ages with everyone making sure everything was sorted. She was amazing and since she retired a few years back I haven’t found anyone even close to as good as she was.
It’s a result of the Hypocrite Oath…
You are expected to arrive 15 minutes early, but they see no problem routinely keeping their patients waiting.
I find im most on time from 11-12. Usually end up a little behind mid morning and do my best to catch up so I can sit down for a few minutes before afternoon clinic starts up.
The best reason to book early actually is that we’re tired at the end of the day and our decision making is worse.
‘Researchers theorize that decline is due to doctors falling behind on their day’s work and something called “decision fatigue,” described as “the cumulative burden of screening discussions earlier in the day.”’
https://www.phillyvoice.com/doctors-order-cancer-screening-morning-appointment/
I waited in a waiting room for 3 hours for a specialist once, only to be told I’d have to reschedule for 6 weeks away. From then on, I wait 30 minutes after my appointment, then I leave. My time is valuable, too. I never make afternoon appointments.
Idk if rather wait an hour than get up early in the morning ew
well, thanks. Now anyone who couldn’t logically put that thought together now knows this. I’m not going to be able to find early appointments anymore.
My wife works for a doctor that has her first appointment at 8 a.m. Nearly every day, the doctor texts my wife to “back up” the first two because she’s “running behind”. The reality is the doctor doesn’t show up until 8:45 or later every day.
By 8am my doc office is already running 15-45 minutes late. Early afternoon is the golden hour, after lunch but just before school gets out.
Okay yes, but do not do this if you’re the person who can’t be on time. I genuinely do not care if you think you can be 15 minutes late because you have a car of kids to wrangle or you have trouble waking up or you don’t know what the traffic is like.
even if it’s the doc’s first of the day they’ll still find some excuse to keep you waiting in the exam room. to be in sync is to relinquish their superiority.
Agreed, though I schedule early appointments mostly because I’d rather not fidget around looking at the clock all day waiting for the appointment to roll around.
But don’t bother w booking first appointment and Honda Dealer Service, they will book as many people as want that time.
Doctor here….I love my job and try my best to be on time!
This tip will work unless I’m on call and have to round in the nursery first but usually on time.
I’m also usually waiting for other providers to open in the morning to follow up on night stuff that doesn’t get done or overnight ER stuff.
First appointment after lunch works well unless I’m on call, or behind etc….
Please please please don’t book the last slot of the day and think because there’s no one after you, you can have unlimited time.
My day is far from over after the last patient is gone.
I always make my dentist appointments for 2:30. The hygienist humors me with a groan when I explain why.
I got the 2nd appointment once and the 1st was 20 minutes late. They made me wait.
Last appointment of the day so that you don’t have to go back to work.
I used to think this too and asked the nurses at my dr office about it. They said sometimes they are running behind because the doctor shows up an hour late. They actually said the best appointments were right after lunch because he’d work straight through to make up any time.
Same with flights. Anything where a single delay can snowball and impact the whole day’s schedule is better to do as early as possible
TIL that some employment contracts quantify allowable sick time, and that using that for a doctor’s appointment is a luxury.