*DISCLAIMER* Please don't get offended by this post. We understand sometimes things are out of your control. BUT when they aren't out of your control...well...this is why this post exists.
Some of our "favorite" phone calls happen between 3 and 4:45 pm (the 2 hours before we close) and they go something like this:
*4:00 pm* Patient/Parent calls
"Hi, I need to get my child in for an appointment today."
"Okay, what do they need to be seen for?"
"Well, he has been sick for 3 weeks and I think it's time he be seen."
"Alright. Can you come at 4:45 (or later depending on how late we are already scheduled)."
*And we are thinking to ourselves, "so, he has been sick for 3 weeks but NOW, 45 minutes before we close and can go home, he needs an appointment." And our office policy is that if they call before we close and need an appointment we will see them. Even if it isn't an emergency. And then they get there at 4:45 (or whatever time) and then the doctor still has to see them and treat them before we can leave.
Or, even worse is when they call after 3:30 saying they have an injury that happened DAYS ago but now they want to be seen for it. These are bad because by the time they get to our office, are seen by the doctor, and then we send them for x-ray, we are closed. But yet we still have to stay and wait for results, and then sometimes (depending on results) wait for the patient to come back to our office so we can treat it with a brace or cast.
It's kind of like when a restaurant closes at 9 and someone walks in at 8:55. Of course they are happy that they got in but did they think about the fact that the employee's want to go home to their families? And now they have to wait for you to order, eat, and then do the dishes and clean up after you before they can go home. (Personal venting, my husband was in the restaurant business for years.)
What should you be getting out of this post? If your child is sick, and has been sick all day, or week, or more, please call in the morning. Our schedule fills up as the day goes and let me tell you it really sucks when we see only a few appointments in the morning and are super slow and then we get 5 calls after 4:00 and are stuck at the office until 6 or 7 when we had been sitting around all day.
And not that I'm saying that if you have an emergency you shouldn't call close to closing time. Those appointments are totally understandable and we don't mind being late when a child does need to be seen for a real emergency that parents couldn't have called about sooner.
Some of our "favorite" phone calls happen between 3 and 4:45 pm (the 2 hours before we close) and they go something like this:
*4:00 pm* Patient/Parent calls
"Hi, I need to get my child in for an appointment today."
"Okay, what do they need to be seen for?"
"Well, he has been sick for 3 weeks and I think it's time he be seen."
"Alright. Can you come at 4:45 (or later depending on how late we are already scheduled)."
*And we are thinking to ourselves, "so, he has been sick for 3 weeks but NOW, 45 minutes before we close and can go home, he needs an appointment." And our office policy is that if they call before we close and need an appointment we will see them. Even if it isn't an emergency. And then they get there at 4:45 (or whatever time) and then the doctor still has to see them and treat them before we can leave.
Or, even worse is when they call after 3:30 saying they have an injury that happened DAYS ago but now they want to be seen for it. These are bad because by the time they get to our office, are seen by the doctor, and then we send them for x-ray, we are closed. But yet we still have to stay and wait for results, and then sometimes (depending on results) wait for the patient to come back to our office so we can treat it with a brace or cast.
It's kind of like when a restaurant closes at 9 and someone walks in at 8:55. Of course they are happy that they got in but did they think about the fact that the employee's want to go home to their families? And now they have to wait for you to order, eat, and then do the dishes and clean up after you before they can go home. (Personal venting, my husband was in the restaurant business for years.)
What should you be getting out of this post? If your child is sick, and has been sick all day, or week, or more, please call in the morning. Our schedule fills up as the day goes and let me tell you it really sucks when we see only a few appointments in the morning and are super slow and then we get 5 calls after 4:00 and are stuck at the office until 6 or 7 when we had been sitting around all day.
And not that I'm saying that if you have an emergency you shouldn't call close to closing time. Those appointments are totally understandable and we don't mind being late when a child does need to be seen for a real emergency that parents couldn't have called about sooner.
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