It is not uncommon to have to wait 30 or even 60 minutes at a doctor’s office. This is due to a number of factors:
- Appointment schedules that are not optimized or designed for how long a visit normally takes
- Before your visit, the physician had to spend extra time with a complicated patient
- A doctor that does not prioritize his time or how long his patients are waiting
- A patient that arrived late, or an urgent visit that was squeezed in before your appointment time
- Administration trying to fit too many visits per day into the schedule
At each doctor’s office, or even on different days, different factors are in play as to why you are waiting for so long. You have a few options:
- Ask to have appointments at the beginning of the day, or right after breaks, such as for lunch. Schedules may also have a break mid-morning and mid-afternoon, so ask to be scheduled right after such breaks.
- When calling a new doctor’s office, ask if the doctor usually runs on time. Receptionists are usually pretty open about this. They may tell you that this physician usually runs late, while the other is more on time.
- But what goes around, comes around. If you choose a doctor that runs on time, don’t expect to be seen if you arrive late. Any issues you bring up after the designated 15 or 20 minute appointment time may have to wait until your next visit.
