r/mildlyinfuriating • u/transfatpikachu • 1d ago

I just wanted a hot dog Doctor’s appointment scheduled at 9:00am, still waiting almost an hour later

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I have a lot of doctor’s appointments, and I know how busy and hard these people work. I’m not mad at them and I’d never be rude. I know it’s not on purpose. Nevertheless, it’s still a bit infuriating to make time for a scheduled appointment, arrive 15 minutes early (required), and then wait this long with not even an acknowledgment of the delay from anyone. Sigh. 9:55 now, still waiting.

Edit: I really appreciate all the comments! The doctor ended up coming in shortly after 10. This was a specialist ortho appointment for my shoulder. Still no acknowledgement of the delay, which would’ve been nice, but I’m more annoyed that my concerns were pretty much brushed off again during the whole 3ish minutes he spent with me. I know waits can get long, I wouldn’t care as much if the doctor had at least seemed somewhat concerned with my issue. Sigh… gotta love American healthcare!

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69

u/rexic0n 1d ago

private equity and insurance companies have ruined patient care. 

-10

u/TheGeeseKilledMyMom 1d ago

Actually, I’m going to take a flak here, the insurance companies aren’t the biggest cause of high costs within the system (even their profit margin is usually around 3-5 percent) it’s actually the provider monopolies that lobby local government to create rules that prevent new competitors + doctor associations limits amount of doctors indirectly. I highly recommend doing reading upon this well established phenomenon because it’s very much real and highly underreported as due to various reasons we almost singularly focus on Insurance, even though it’s a surface layer as far as healthcare goes.

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u/rexic0n 1d ago

buddy if you came here to support insurance companies, i assure you, you’re barking up the entirely incorrect tree. 

-3

u/TheGeeseKilledMyMom 1d ago

I’m not supporting them, just adding nuance to what’s a misconception on the topic. I think everyday Americans really have a warped perspective on the complex economics of healthcare.

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u/rexic0n 1d ago

my entire family works in healthcare. i’m informed on the topic. we’re done here. 

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u/TheGeeseKilledMyMom 1d ago

Ok, feel free to fact check me if you think I’m wrong or, hell, correct me if you think I’m overstating things.

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u/Standard-Top-5942 1d ago

your argument is that insurance companies aren't the main source of the problem? you do know that profit margins you mention (assuming they're true) are AFTER costs like paying literally hundreds of thousands of employees in the insurance industry to move around papers and figure out where they can deny coverage, and other expenditure like lobbying and office real estate

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u/Ohpyogenes 1d ago edited 23h ago

If it’s a supply issue, why would the huge increase in NP/PA usage not decrease health costs? There were 125,000 licensed NPs in 2010 and currently 461,000. If it takes 2 NPs to do the clinic workload of 1 physician, that is like adding 170,000 physicians to the work force (a 20% increase), so why haven’t cost decreased?

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u/Mindless-Baker-7757 1d ago

How are those two to blame?

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u/TheKimchiDoc 1d ago

Increases the pressure to see an insane amount of people in a day to keep the lights on

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u/watitdo 1d ago

Are you stupid or just pretending to be