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This post consist of complaints, rants, questions, and rants on co-workers. Not to mention I work in a medical office, so MODs can move it where it is appropriate, but I figure this is a general area enough for it all.
Background: I work with a Primary Care Doc and 1-2 other Physician Assistants on a given day. We get anywhere from 60-100 patients a day, split among all of us to see. The Doc sees patients herself and will be called in if any 1 of us can't handle a case.
The Wait
I understand going to the Doctor's office is never a fun thing, and you probably want to get out as soon as possible. So we ( or at least myself) will try to make the wait as short as possible, but that wont work if everyone comes in insisting to see the Doc when anyone of us can take care of you, especially if it's something as simple as a "cold".
But NO, the Doc MUST see me because I'm a VIP/special patient/too complicated for you peons/ or my personal favorite: she's the REAL doctor. Seriously?!? We all went to med school and are fully trained, so it's not rocket science to know how to manage your Hypertension/Diabetes/High Cholesterol/Allergy/Rash/Etc. But, if that's what you want, then you can wait in line with the 20 other people that insist on seeing the Doc and add another 30-60 minutes to your already 20 minute wait.
My question to everyone is this, does it really make a difference who sees you?? I know you have a relationship/trust with your Doc, but if there is already a long wait to see the Doc and your stuck in a small room with crying children/sickly people/and/or people coughing up a lung, wouldn't you want to get out of there as soon as you can?
Co-workers
Our front desk is a joke, the girls can't schedule appointments well and can't manage the flow, not to mention stopping anyone of medical team for every little thing. But the kicker is when it's boiling hot outside, and we crank the AC up, they are complaining it's too cold! Meanwhile, 1 of them is wearing a fish-net shirt over a tank top, and another is wearing some lace thing. The medical team is in dress shirt/pants/tie with lab coats or in scrubs over regular clothes, and we are running around in over 80% of the office while the front desk just sit in front of computers or move about in general front desk area. So please, next time before you complain it's too cold, bring a damn sweater or something, or maybe wear something that's more shirt and less holes.
We have several PAs that alternate shifts, in general they are pretty good and fast. I'm technically a MD-in-training, so rank a little higher than them, but we do the same work, which includes seeing patients, examinations, diagnosis, and writing up the notes. Some patients are more complicated and obviously needs more time, but that shouldn't be every patient you see, especially if there's a packed waiting room. There is 1 particular PA that is especially slow. He can take upwards of 45 mins for someone coming in for a cold. And then all he writes down in the notes is: Patient with such and such history come in with complain of coughing for 2 days. Then some other unrelated stuff. REALLY?? You spent 45 mins with that patient and that's all you have to write about their main complaint?!? Anyone we grab off the street can write that, you are a trained medical professional, you are trained to know how and what to write on a chart, even if it's for something simple. And on a day where we saw 60 people, with him, the Doc and me on call, and I saw patients on my own as well as everyone that Doc saw, he only totaled 14. And that was the day I slipped down a flight of stairs that morning in a rush to get to work and was having seriously back pain.
Phew..sorry for the long post.
Background: I work with a Primary Care Doc and 1-2 other Physician Assistants on a given day. We get anywhere from 60-100 patients a day, split among all of us to see. The Doc sees patients herself and will be called in if any 1 of us can't handle a case.
The Wait
I understand going to the Doctor's office is never a fun thing, and you probably want to get out as soon as possible. So we ( or at least myself) will try to make the wait as short as possible, but that wont work if everyone comes in insisting to see the Doc when anyone of us can take care of you, especially if it's something as simple as a "cold".
But NO, the Doc MUST see me because I'm a VIP/special patient/too complicated for you peons/ or my personal favorite: she's the REAL doctor. Seriously?!? We all went to med school and are fully trained, so it's not rocket science to know how to manage your Hypertension/Diabetes/High Cholesterol/Allergy/Rash/Etc. But, if that's what you want, then you can wait in line with the 20 other people that insist on seeing the Doc and add another 30-60 minutes to your already 20 minute wait.
My question to everyone is this, does it really make a difference who sees you?? I know you have a relationship/trust with your Doc, but if there is already a long wait to see the Doc and your stuck in a small room with crying children/sickly people/and/or people coughing up a lung, wouldn't you want to get out of there as soon as you can?
Co-workers
Our front desk is a joke, the girls can't schedule appointments well and can't manage the flow, not to mention stopping anyone of medical team for every little thing. But the kicker is when it's boiling hot outside, and we crank the AC up, they are complaining it's too cold! Meanwhile, 1 of them is wearing a fish-net shirt over a tank top, and another is wearing some lace thing. The medical team is in dress shirt/pants/tie with lab coats or in scrubs over regular clothes, and we are running around in over 80% of the office while the front desk just sit in front of computers or move about in general front desk area. So please, next time before you complain it's too cold, bring a damn sweater or something, or maybe wear something that's more shirt and less holes.
We have several PAs that alternate shifts, in general they are pretty good and fast. I'm technically a MD-in-training, so rank a little higher than them, but we do the same work, which includes seeing patients, examinations, diagnosis, and writing up the notes. Some patients are more complicated and obviously needs more time, but that shouldn't be every patient you see, especially if there's a packed waiting room. There is 1 particular PA that is especially slow. He can take upwards of 45 mins for someone coming in for a cold. And then all he writes down in the notes is: Patient with such and such history come in with complain of coughing for 2 days. Then some other unrelated stuff. REALLY?? You spent 45 mins with that patient and that's all you have to write about their main complaint?!? Anyone we grab off the street can write that, you are a trained medical professional, you are trained to know how and what to write on a chart, even if it's for something simple. And on a day where we saw 60 people, with him, the Doc and me on call, and I saw patients on my own as well as everyone that Doc saw, he only totaled 14. And that was the day I slipped down a flight of stairs that morning in a rush to get to work and was having seriously back pain.
Phew..sorry for the long post.
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