Thursday, March 21, 2013

Reasons Mary drinks

Lady walks into office, signs in

Mary: "Hi... ma'am, your appointment was yesterday. We have you marked down as a no-show."

Mrs. Hansen: "I'm sorry, I had a family emergency. Can't you just see me today?"

Mary: "No, we're completely booked up."

Mrs. Hansen: "But I had an emergency!"

Mary: "I understand, that can happen. We can see you this Friday at 1:00 or..."

Mrs. Hansen: "Why are you doing this to me?"

Mary: "Excuse me?"

Mrs. Hansen: "I don't appreciate that you're treating me like a leper."

Mary: "Ma'am, I'm not..."

Mrs. Hansen: "This is so unfair! I had an emergency that wasn't my fault, and for that you're punishing me."

(pause)

Mary: "Do you want the appointment on Friday afternoon or not?"

Mrs. Hansen (scrolls through phone): "No, I'm meeting a friend at the casino."

15 comments:

  1. Do not understand people who think that every doctor office is a walk-in clinic. Miss an appointment? No reason to call! Just show up when you want!

    grumble self-absorbed dimwits taking over the world grumble grumble

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  2. Baby needs a new pair of shoes.

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  3. Thanks to a generation raised to believe the world has to be "fair" or revolve around them, this is what we are left with.

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  4. In primary care we have 30% open access. One office in our group had 70%. You could call and get a PE scheduled for the same day. There is a push for specialists to follow suit.

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  5. "Mrs. Hansen" - nice one.

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  6. Ditto Anon @ 1147 ~ thanks for the chuckle!

    And the NOIVE of that Mary, treating a patient like that!!

    {gigglesnorts}

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  7. The very first intake sheet should have a line that says: "Define Emergency"

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  8. @Old Squid....and I wonder how that is achieved? Is it not making abouts for later in the week....ie, I attempted to make an appointment in the afternoon for the following day (pink eye)but they would not do that. Instead, I had to call the next morning for a same day appointment. I find this practice annoying, but I guess is allows them to have "open access"

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  9. Yes, I'm almost positive that "casino meeting" is an emergency, so why should I bother to show up?

    I love hearing the excuses! (not!)

    Back of the line, for you!

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  10. I'm sure it's Mary's fault for not calling to remind her 5 times ahead of said appointment and then foreseeing said emergency and averting it.

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  11. Did you read about the ex-mayor of San Diego? She gambled a BILLION dollars away over the last 9 years because she was developing a brain tumor that caused gambling addiction. So if Mrs. Hanson loses you may be liable for not giving her the appointment. What's the odds she will win at the casino?

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  12. Cape Cod Step-Mom, yeah, before the kinks got worked out this was a problem. Also phone lines being jammed at 0700 was a problem. Now we are "allowed" to start making next day appointments at 2pm if we are booked. Working for a medium physician organization we also have "Express Care" at three locations which treats minor aliments like pink-eye, strep, etc. by a NP or PA either first thing in the am or after work until 8. The added benefit of this is not having an urgent care co-pay, which is usually higher than a co-pay for an office visit.

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  13. Mary needs a REASON to drink? What's that all about?

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  14. Wanna "bet" Mrs. Hansen has an emergency on Friday as well?

    And just how does Mary keep a "poker" face when dealing with these clods?

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  15. This is one of my ultimate biggest pet peeves at my office! We are a surgery clinic and all of our clinic days are booked out at least 1 month. When we set up an appt, people usually are aware of that fact. But I get people missing appts all the time and then whining that they can't get in for another month. Drives me crazy.

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So wadda you think?