Posted by Bud Ward on Fri, Dec 26, 2008 @ 10:20 PM
It has been a while since I posted a new blog article. Although I have a few drafts, I haven't found time to finish and post them. Today, I had an experience that I felt compelled to share.
I had been feeling ill since returning from vacation last weekend. At first, I thought that I was getting a cold. By Christmas Eve, it was clear that it was probably a sinus infection. Because of the holiday and our family plans, I waited until today to seek medical care. My primary care office was closed so I called a local immediate care center.
When I called to schedule an appointment, they offered me a 12:20pm time slot. I thought it was great that they could see so early in the day. When I arrived, I had to fill out the usual paperwork which took five minutes. I was instructed to take a seat and I would be called back shortly. At 12:55pm, my name was finally called and I entered a treatment room. Almost immediately, a friendly nurse came in to take my vital signs. She finished in about five minutes and left saying that the doctor would be right in. As we all do in this situation, I waited . . . and waited . . . and waited.
At 1:40pm, I finally opened the door and asked a staff member if someone would be in soon. I explained that I had been in the room for over 40 minutes already. A couple of minutes later, a medical tech stepped in and said that the doctor would "be right in". At 1:50pm, the doctor finally arrived in the room. He asked me a couple of questions. He listened to my breathing. He tapped over my sinuses. This process took exactly 2 minutes. He confirmed that I had a sinus infection and he was prescribing an antibiotic. Then, he was gone.
I returned to the front desk at ~1:55pm to check out and to get my prescription. The person at the desk informed me that they could fill my prescription on site if I wanted to wait for about 15 minutes. Keep in mind that I had already been in the office for nearly 2 hours. Since their previous time estimates had been so inaccurate, I decided to drop the script at my usual pharmacy.
I shared this story, not so much as a way to vent, but more to make a point about waiting times in health care. The reality of the situation was that it was the day after Christmas and many people needed to be seen. There was only one doctor and one nurse practitioner on duty. The problem started when the staff severely over booked the schedule. The problem worsened with a lack of communication. I was in the office for nearly 2 hours and received ~7 minutes of medical care. Not once, did any of the staff members apologize for the wait or offer any explanation. This was not a great patient experience.
When I started managing physical therapy clinics in 2000, I decided that I never wanted a patient to have this type of experience in one of my offices. At Arundel Physical Therapy & Fitness, we continually monitor our schedule and our processes to ensure little to no wait times for our patients. We are committed to delivering the best patient experience in an outpatient physical therapy clinic.