Waiting Around

I hate waiting. I pride myself on being on time. I think that people who constantly run late are rude and selfish because they are making people wait on them. They are not considering anyone else's feelings or needs. Basically that is just damn rude.

Social occasions aside, waiting for doctors is even worse. Especially when you are not feeling well. This is one reason why I do not like Emergency Rooms and will only go if I am literally dripping blood (and will therefore be put to the front of the line) is I can't stand waiting around.

A year or so ago, my opthamologist asked me to find a new one. Basically I got fired by my eye doctor because I dared to complain about waiting so long and not being a good patient. I was pissed off about waiting and decided to complain on Yelp.

In comparison the hospital I go to has had a policy for a long time that patients should not be kept waiting more than 15 minutes. I had a doctor in the 1980s who had a sign on her office door that said "Patients Should Not Be Kept Waiting For More Than 15 Minutes". Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't.

In recent years it has gotten even better. Some departments which seem to run late often keep white boards posted in the waiting rooms telling you about doctors who are running being. All departments when you check in usually tell you if a doctor is running behind. And they have signs in the waiting rooms encouraging you to ask if your doctor is running behind if you are kept waiting more than 15 minutes past your scheduled time.

I love this policy. I love being kept on top of how long it will be.

I just read an article this morning about how some other Boston area hospitals are finally understanding the importance of not keeping patients waiting. Their reason? Patients are finally speaking out on social media on being kept waiting.

If you are a patient at the 'holy hospital of the best doctors in five hundred miles' you are supposed to sit quietly and wait to see the doctor who is going to cure you of everything quietly for hours and hours. I think that's crap. Social media is putting pressure on them to finally act. How nice.

As a patient, I say 'speak up on social media' to pressure your medical center to treat you as a patient who is a person as well, instead of being a patient patient.