Home Grrrr...OB/GYN visits have awful wait times

[annadragon]

Dear OB/GYN doctor,

How long do you expect me to wait to see you? 1 hr? 2hrs? maybe 3 or 4? Why can''t you instruct your staff to reschedule after so many hours? Yes, I''m aware that you''re out delivering babies, but for the love of Pete, hire a NP to do some Pap smears while you''re out playing baby catcher! And furthermore, quit holding my Birth Control hostage if you''re going to make it so damned difficult to see you!

-Your truly dissatisfied patient

Ok, now that I''ve calmed down a little I''d like to ask other PSers their opinion. I typically do my annual Well Woman exam with an OB/GYN. My PCP won''t do them due to an abnormal Pap I had years ago (all negative since then). And while I''ve been very happy with the actual interaction with the different OB/GYN''s (I attempted to find a provider that doesn''t have an atrocious wait time hence the different docs) I''ve visited for my annual I have NEVER, not one single time had a visit less than 3 hrs long. To clarify the actual visit is less than 20min but the wait between waiting room and the dreaded sitting on the white paper sheet with your naked butt is agonizingly long. In addition, in my area there is a minimum 4 month wait time between scheduling and appointment, which also gets me all

Is there such a thing as OB/GYN''s that do only gynecology? Is there a reason (if your state allows it) that NPs can not perform Pap smears? What are the considerations for going to NPs for just straight-up Well Woman annuals?

 

[ladypirate]

My regular doctor does my paps, so I haven''t had to wait like that. What area of the country do you live in?

 

[qtiekiki]

There are GYNs who are not OB/GYNs, but I think they are less common. I can''t imagine waiting that long for an appointment. The longest I waited is probably 40 min, only 5 min or less of it in the exam room being half naked. And they''ve been very good at calling if the doctor is delivering. I''ve read about hours long waits at OB/GYN offices on other pregnancy forums, so I guess it''s not uncommon.

 

[Pandora II]

In the UK, you see your GP for that - they then refer you to a GYN if there is a problem. Why do you need a GYN for a pap?

 

[iluvcarats]

There is a severe shortage of OB/GYNs because their malpractice insurance is so high.
Wait times will only get worse with the new health care reform bill.
One of the many reasons we need TORT reform.

 

[Shoopy]

The other ladies have said what I would have said.

Just as a side question: When are you going to these appointments? (what times and what days?)

I think if you get an understanding of the office a little, then you can kind of schedule your appointments during their down time.

For example, at my OB''s office the best times to make appts were at 7:45am and 3pm. Mondays and Fridays were awful. Wednesday was a slow day for them.

Also, if you have an OB/GYN, then I''d ask for a day when they aren''t on-call. I once waited for my OB for 2 hours because it was her on-call day and she was delayed since she delivered a baby that morning

.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 3/31/2010 6:33:23 PM
Author: iluvcarats
There is a severe shortage of OB/GYNs because their malpractice insurance is so high.

Wait times will only get worse with the new health care reform bill.

One of the many reasons we need TORT reform.

Actually, most doctors I know say there is a shortage of certain specialists like OB/GYNs because the hours are so unpredictable from being on call. That''s why many med students tend to want to go into specialities (like dermatology) where they can just see patients at the office.

To the OP-I would try to find someone else. I''ve never had to wait that long for an appointment at my gynecologist. And I currently see a Nurse Practitioner who I LOVE and she is always on time.

 

[iluvcarats]

Date: 3/31/2010 7:43:14 PM
Author: thing2of2

Date: 3/31/2010 6:33:23 PM

Author: iluvcarats

There is a severe shortage of OB/GYNs because their malpractice insurance is so high.


Wait times will only get worse with the new health care reform bill.


One of the many reasons we need TORT reform.

Actually, most doctors I know say there is a shortage of certain specialists like OB/GYNs because the hours are so unpredictable from being on call. That's why many med students tend to want to go into specialities (like dermatology) where they can just see patients at the office.


To the OP-I would try to find someone else. I've never had to wait that long for an appointment at my gynecologist. And I currently see a Nurse Practitioner who I LOVE and she is always on time.

I think it is a combination of both, but OB has the (eta) second highest malpractice insurance rate, and it is an exhausting specialty.
link

 

[icekid]

Date: 3/31/2010 7:43:14 PM
Author: thing2of2

Date: 3/31/2010 6:33:23 PM

Author: iluvcarats

There is a severe shortage of OB/GYNs because their malpractice insurance is so high.


Wait times will only get worse with the new health care reform bill.


One of the many reasons we need TORT reform.

Actually, most doctors I know say there is a shortage of certain specialists like OB/GYNs because the hours are so unpredictable from being on call. That''s why many med students tend to want to go into specialities (like dermatology) where they can just see patients at the office.

Actually, Ob/Gyn docs are closing up their practices due to the insane malpractice situation. Sure, the lifestyle is not the most appealing, but it does not deter people completely. All physicians work hard. Not being able to make a living, however, certainly does deter medical students from entering the field and IS causing severe shortages already in certain states.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 3/31/2010 8:27:20 PM
Author: icekid

Date: 3/31/2010 7:43:14 PM

Author: thing2of2

Date: 3/31/2010 6:33:23 PM

Author: iluvcarats

There is a severe shortage of OB/GYNs because their malpractice insurance is so high.

Wait times will only get worse with the new health care reform bill.

One of the many reasons we need TORT reform.

Actually, most doctors I know say there is a shortage of certain specialists like OB/GYNs because the hours are so unpredictable from being on call. That''s why many med students tend to want to go into specialities (like dermatology) where they can just see patients at the office.

Actually, Ob/Gyn docs are closing up their practices due to the insane malpractice situation. Sure, the lifestyle is not the most appealing, but it does not deter people completely. All physicians work hard. Not being able to make a living, however, certainly does deter medical students from entering the field and IS causing severe shortages already in certain states.

I was just talking about this today with about 8 residents in one of my MPH classes. It came up because we were discussing the health care reform bill. All of them said that the concern for them (and their fellow residents) was the number of hours spent at work, not the cost of malpractice insurance.

I do live in a state with a cap on malpractice damages (even if the damages are all actual medical bills), so I''m sure that has something to do with it. The cap is around $1.5 million. If more states enforced caps on damages I''m sure the shortage would be lessened.

 

[packrat]

We do paps in our office. Dr is family practice, and we have 2 NP''s as well. They''re all busy..Dr''s wait for a pap is up to 6 weeks. We do paps on women who have had abnormals too..I think they go to a gyn for a couple few times, depending, but I don''t think they have to go forever. Waiting four months for a pap is awfully unreasonable to me-I''d find someone else. Call your primary care office and see what they recommend.

The scheduling thing..I can speak from almost 6 years w/this office-it''s hard. Behind the scenes look:: If Dr is on call, do you schedule light and assume that she will be in ER a lot? Today she was on call, didn''t once get called over. Do you schedule normal and cross your fingers she doesn''t get called over? I can recall some days she didn''t see ANY patients b/c she was in the ER, so imagine how fun *that* was to reschedule. And, if she''s NOT on call-if one of our patients goes to the ER, say for a possible heart attack, car accident etc-Dr has to go, regardless if she''s on call or not. If one of our patients goes to the ER for non emergent care, they are sent over to the office with no appointment and we *have* to work them in. We''ve had untold patients figure this out so if they don''t want to wait until the next day, guess where they''re headed?

I''ve been screamed at, cussed at, threatened, fingers in my face. I can''t help that not only was Dr on call and there was a bad car accident, 2 of her OB''s went into labor. If I could see the future, obviously I would not schedule any patients that day. (and probably I would give a heads up to the car accident people and tell them to stay home) We tell our patients to call ahead of time and we do our very best to *guess* when they should come. I''ve told people to come up and as they''re checking in, Dr''s running out the door to the ER.

There''s just *no* way to guess correctly. We schedule 20 minutes for a visit, 40 for a pap. Some patients talk and talk and won''t leave-some bring family members to be seen w/out appointments. It''s the nature of the beast. We have people leave our practice b/c of it, and I don''t blame them, to be quite honest. If Dr wasn''t seriously THE best Dr in the area, I wouldn''t be a patient. We have other people that see her in ER that transfer to us b/c of her bedside manner, and others that get ticked at the wait, transfer out and then transfer back and sit nice and patiently when they have to wait the 2nd time around.

It sucks for both sides. Boil it down to, is the care you get worth the wait? If not, then it''s time to check around for a different provider.

Good lord..no more caffeine for Missi today.

 

[icekid]

Date: 3/31/2010 8:38:44 PM
Author: thing2of2

Date: 3/31/2010 8:27:20 PM


I was just talking about this today with about 8 residents in one of my MPH classes. It came up because we were discussing the health care reform bill. All of them said that the concern for them (and their fellow residents) was the number of hours spent at work, not the cost of malpractice insurance.


I do live in a state with a cap on malpractice damages (even if the damages are all actual medical bills), so I''m sure that has something to do with it. The cap is around $1.5 million. If more states enforced caps on damages I''m sure the shortage would be lessened.

Oh don''t get me wrong, doctors definitely care more about their lifestyle these days (though less so now that we are limited to 80 hours.) And you are correct that it varies largely by state. Being on the east coast, I am acutely aware of the malpractice issue in Florida and Pennsylvania namely. We were considering moving back to Philadelphia, but likely will not because of the situation there. My friends who went into Ob moved out of PA. And another close friend whose father is a FL Ob/Gyn essentially forbid her from going into his field. It''s very tough to find an Ob in FL!

 

[Octavia]

I totally sympathize, annadragon. When I was younger, my PCP did everything that needed to be done annually at one appointment (physical/bloodwork/Pap/etc). However, my doctor where I live now doesn''t do GYN exams, and I''ve had a terrible time finding and keeping a doctor for that. I really liked the first one I saw, but then she moved out-of-state (away from PA). The next one I saw was actually a nurse practitioner -- the practice had lots of OB/GYNs but they only saw patients for either obstetrics or problems, and the nurses took care of the rest. That part didn''t bother me so much, since the nurses are perfectly capable of doing what I need done, but my experience there was just like annadragon''s -- I had the second appointment of the day but didn''t end up getting out of there until after lunchtime, with no explanation or apology. It was terrible, and I was very angry because I had NOT planned on having to take a half-day at work (especially to see a nurse instead of a doctor -- I''d have been more understanding if the delay was because of deliveries, but she only sees regular GYN patients!). I refused to go back to that practice and switched again, and knock on wood, have had pretty good luck with the one I''m at now. Once I was actually seen before my appointment was scheduled to start, since I was early and they took me right away. Shocking!!!

There''s a 4-month wait time here, too, even for existing patients. It''s annoying because they only open the schedules 4 months in advance, so you literally have to call every day for about a week to see if you can catch an appointment before they fill up. I live close to the border with two other states and had thought of trying to find a practice in one of them instead of here, but since DH and I will probably try for kids within a couple years, I figured it was better to have a closer doctor. But it''s definitely super annoying.

 

[annadragon]

Thank you ladies for all your responses.

@LadyPirate I live in South Louisiana. Our physician population suffered a tremendous loss after Katrina and while it has been rebounding it''s definitely not back up to speed.

@PandoraII My PCP or GP as you call them over there, won''t do my Paps because of an abnormal one years ago. Although the subsequent ones have been clean, when I tried to go back her staff told me she wouldn''t do them for high risk cases. I only see a doc if I''m sick or need my annual so I''ve never been back to her. Maybe I should try to find another PCP?

@fiery In regards to appointment days/times I usually just take whatever I can get because it takes 4 months. I''ve not thought to ask about downtime but I''ll give that a shot if I''m going to continue seeing any of these overbooked, overworked providers. Thanks

@packrat I know scheduling can be tough. Having worked in an ER I will never scream or be rude with staff because I know how awful it is to be on the receiving end.

I''m well aware some type of tort reform needs to be initiated and some states have tried, but I''ve not heard any success stories. I''d really prefer not to take the time of a specialty provider since I no longer need their services. This further takes away resources from people who might actually need an OB/GYN whereas all I need is a silly Pap smear. I''m betting my insurance has to pay more for that simple Pap to an OB/GYN than a family practice doc too.

Alrighty, I''m off to search for a provider that doesn''t see my ONE abnormal Pap years ago as a liability and when the best time is to score a good appointment.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Why is it the OBGYN''s office is always SO COLD? Do they not realize we''re sitting around bare arsed?

 

[MustangGal]

I''ve had the best luck going to a group office. My OB/GYN has 5 doctors and 3 NPs, so even if one is out baby-catching, there''s enough other qualified people around to take on the extra appointments. I think the longest I ever waited was 30 minutes, and only got shifted to a NP once.

 

[Keepingthefaith21]

My OBGYN has two offices - one at the hospital and one in an office building across town - I always make sure I schedule my appointments with her at the office building as she is only there on days when she is not on call. That assures that I can get in and out quickly as most of the visits she entertains at that location are routine.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I would be annoyed if I had to wait that long for a doctor too. I think the others had some great suggestions about finding out your OB''s call schedule, and the times to schedule apts. I have started to realize that Wed is my slowest day, and Friday and Monday are my busiest. Also the early morning apts are not very popular and usually the doctor is not backed up yet.

I realize making patients happy is a no win situation. My clinic runs no more than 20 minutes late (unless a kid comes in a severe asthma exaberation or something), but I have some very unpopular rules to keep it that way. No siblings can be added on unless the are truly sick or I have an open apt, if you are more than 5 minutes late for a well or routine, you have to reschedule. Long apts (ADHD evals, adolescent GYN) must be scheduled before lunch so that if I go over, I don''t back up the whole clinic. As much as my patients appreciate me running on time, I have a lot upset ones about my rules.

I am trying to figure out a way to make everyone happy, but I don''t think that is possible.

 

[packrat]

Ltl-I really wish we could get Dr to set some sort of rules like yours. It doesn''t matter if you let patients do whatever they want, like in our office, or you have rules like in yours, you can''t make all of the people happy all of the time. I''d rather have rules. Otherwise it''s a free for all willy nilly thing.

 

[radiantquest]

I usually do not have a hard time at my lady doctor. My personal gyn is very well respected in the state of MD. He is rated as the top doctor in the state and his father gave my grandmother her hysterectomy. My childhood best friend is even seeing him because she has issues and he is the best around. Normally I never actually see him. When I get my shot a nurse gives it to me and when I get my pap whoever is available does it, but if there is ever a problem they go right to him. I had a small no-risk issue over the winter and I waited 2hrs for him. He was delivering a baby. I was so angry sitting there waiting until he came in and told me that the mother and baby were is distress and he needed to be there and apologized so many times how could I stay mad.

This was around the time that we got a ton of snow and he told me that all he has to do is call the state and say his name and his profession and they come right out and clear a path from his driveway to the hospital so that he can deliver babies. I wish we could all just call the state and out they would come.

 

[audball]

I see a regular GYN, not an OB/GYN. I have been going for paps since I turned 18 (about 5 years) and have never been in the office for more than 30 minutes. I can usually get an annual appointment with just a few days notice (maybe a week), she keeps space heaters in the rooms so they''re toasty, and all she does is see GYN patients. I''ve been very lucky I guess! I would suggest trying to find a GYN instead of an OB. I don''t really see the point in seeing an OB/GYN if you''re not trying to conceive since you don''t need the baby delivering part of their expertise.

 

[taovandel]

Hudson Hawk: Wait until you are further in your pregnancy...you''ll understand why the office is so cold.....my last internal before I gave birth (2 days before I gave birth) I was sweating and I was naked from the waist down!

 

[Haven]

Date: 4/1/2010 6:54:30 PM
Author: Keepingthefaith21
My OBGYN has two offices - one at the hospital and one in an office building across town - I always make sure I schedule my appointments with her at the office building as she is only there on days when she is not on call. That assures that I can get in and out quickly as most of the visits she entertains at that location are routine.

I do the same thing. My OBGYN is only at his office one day a week, but if that means I can get in at my scheduled time then I''m willing to work around that.

I saw another OBGYN for a short time. She once left me waiting *in a paper gown* in an exam room for an hour and ten minutes. That was the last time I saw her.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Date: 4/2/2010 10:20:28 PM
Author: taovandel
Hudson Hawk: Wait until you are further in your pregnancy...you''ll understand why the office is so cold.....my last internal before I gave birth (2 days before I gave birth) I was sweating and I was naked from the waist down!

Bwahaha yes - every time I go in now I can feel my temperature rising, whether I have pants on or not! Today it was windy and cold outside, but I was SO happy to get out in it.

I''ve been lucky with both my midwife and OBGYN in the past - I very rarely have to wait, but I have always chosen people I knew were fairly quick from friends.

 

[Missy]

Date: 3/31/2010 5:22:10 PM
Author:annadragon
Dear OB/GYN doctor,


How long do you expect me to wait to see you? 1 hr? 2hrs? maybe 3 or 4? Why can't you instruct your staff to reschedule after so many hours? Yes, I'm aware that you're out delivering babies, but for the love of Pete, hire a NP to do some Pap smears while you're out playing baby catcher! And furthermore, quit holding my Birth Control hostage if you're going to make it so damned difficult to see you!

-Your truly dissatisfied patient


Ok, now that I've calmed down a little I'd like to ask other PSers their opinion. I typically do my annual Well Woman exam with an OB/GYN. My PCP won't do them due to an abnormal Pap I had years ago (all negative since then). And while I've been very happy with the actual interaction with the different OB/GYN's (I attempted to find a provider that doesn't have an atrocious wait time hence the different docs) I've visited for my annual I have NEVER, not one single time had a visit less than 3 hrs long. To clarify the actual visit is less than 20min but the wait between waiting room and the dreaded sitting on the white paper sheet with your naked butt is agonizingly long. In addition, in my area there is a minimum 4 month wait time between scheduling and appointment, which also gets me all

Is there such a thing as OB/GYN's that do only gynecology? Is there a reason (if your state allows it) that NPs can not perform Pap smears? What are the considerations for going to NPs for just straight-up Well Woman annuals?

That's ridiculous and I feel your pain. There are certain doctors I will wait a few hours for (not thrilled with it but they are specialists and I truly have no choice) but 3-4 hours at an ob/gyn is just crazy. There are definitely gynecologists that don't practice ob because of either the professional liability rates being crazy high or for whatever other reason. My gyn only practices as a gyn and not ob. Not sure where you are but probably that would be a good option. Additionally, there are Nurse Practicioners or even physician's assts that can do a pap for sure.

 

[Callisto]

Good timing for this thread. I was actually at the OB/GYN today and waited about 40 minutes. I think appointments start at 8:30 and she ran in around 9 so she started off the day 30 minutes behind. This was the first time I had been to this doctor (I moved recently) so idk if this wait is typical. I''ve never had to wait that long at my old OB/GYN so I must have been spoiled there.

 

[Octavia]

Just had to come back to say that, thankfully, I do still love my OB/GYN practice. I had my regular appointment today and was in and out within 45 minutes. Not bad for a middle-of-the-day appointment, I was afraid it would be worse because I usually schedule my appointments in the first hour they''re open. Finding a decent OB/GYN = priceless.