Sometimes it may seem like the receptionists are just really nosey. As the medical director, though, I have charged our front desk with a very important task—to get you the right appointment at the right time, and for the amount of time it should take for us to provide you with expert medical care. And not just for you, but also for the person seen before you and the one after you.
We often hear this from patients: “I came in for an appointment and remembered some other problems I had been putting off, but my provider made me schedule another appointment. I was very frustrated because I only get so much time off and wanted to get it all done that day.”
Here is the honest truth. We want to provide you with the best integrative health care we can, to take time to really listen to you and to thoroughly evaluate your concerns. However, we have many patients and we want the same for them. When a patient calls and schedules an appointment for a single issue, but shows up with many, we are all caught in a conundrum. Does the provider take the extra time to address multiple issues and then have to apologize for being late to every patient the rest of the day? Or, do we rush through a number of problems, do a brief evaluation of each, make a guess at the diagnosis, and rush the discussion of treatment options? Or worse, simply write a script to get going more quickly? Or, do we take a chance on frustrating the patient by asking them to make another appointment? No one wins. As a patient, you either get rushed to fit all your issues into a single appointment, and get shorted on the depth of evaluation and discussion of options you deserve, maybe even missing important information that would change the diagnosis and our plan. To stay and rush you is not fair to you. Yet to take the time to do it right is not fair to everyone who comes after you.
Please assist the receptionist in scheduling your appointment for the amount of time we will need to properly address your concerns by being honest about your needs and the number of issues you would like to address. We can schedule visits up to an hour in length. Please understand that if we have a slower day or open slots after your appointment, we may be able to offer time for additional questions. If we do not have time available, out of our desire to provide you with the best care and to respect the other patients who have appointments after yours, we may ask you to make another appointment.
~Dr. Lawrence Hutchison, MD
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