I need to be very patient to access my family doctor these days. I am grateful that I still have a family doctor. But, since my old doctor sold her practice a couple of years ago, the doctor that bought it has changed with the times. She’s added nurse practitioners, medical administrators, a call centre-like reception and on-line booking. It’s quite a difference from 5 years ago, when my former doctor still wrote by hand in my chart, and all the files were stored on shelves behind the receptionist. While this may allow my doctor to serve a larger group of patients, it has caused me to test my patience.
The Doctor’s Office Experience
Back then, if the doctor was running late I would find myself in a crowded waiting room and realize that I probably had time to read all the ratty magazines and health posters on the walls. As each patient left to see the doctor, I’d feel myself getting closer to the front of the line. Try doing that with a phone appointment. There’s no way to estimate how long I’ll have to wait. It’s ironic that phone and video appointments are supposed to be more convenient.
The Unpredictable Phone Appointment
A phone appointment can take up your entire day. In my experience, it’s rare for the health practitioner to call you at the time that you carefully arranged with them. (Why do we even do this?) Like everyone else, I choose a time when I know that I’m able to talk with them uninterrupted. When I was teaching, that was a narrow window of time during my lunch or prep period. In my experience, they never managed to call me then. ** I was faced with the dilemma of picking up their call in the middle of teaching a class of nosy students with expert hearing, or ignoring it.
Phone Appointments Hold People Hostage
I know people with chronic health issues, that require frequent contact with their doctors. They often sit by the phone all day waiting for the call. Retirement residents are afraid to carry on with their normal routine of eating in the dining room, going for exercise, and seeing other people. They are held hostage by their phone, especially if they only use a landline.
Cumbersome And Time Consuming
My recent request for a doctor’s note took one email and two separate chats with the call centre reception to secure a phone appointment. After the phone appointment, it took another call to reception to request access to my patient site, so that the forms could be downloaded. That’s a lot of my time and persistence for a doctor’s note: five separate interactions, on five different days.
Technology Hasn’t Improved Access
I’m grateful that I’m still able to access medical care considering the shortage of doctors and health professionals in Canada.* I’m just wondering if there isn’t a way to streamline the process as our population ages and requires more health care. I’m pretty sure that older adults don’t enjoy spending a lot more of their time accessing the medical care, that used to take one trip to the doctor’s office.
*https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/provinces-virtual-health-care-panacea-1.6696009
** I realize that doctors and health professionals are doing the best that they can with an underfunded and overcrowded system. It’s not their fault.
Retired, And Now What? 