Dec 25

“…I Don’t Have Time To Answer All These Questions. I Just Answer The Ones You Need To Know.”

“Give me that notebook [with mother's written questions.] I don’t have time to answer all these questions. I’ll just answer the ones you need to know.” – OB at a prenatal appointment.

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There are 15 comments to this post.

Rachel had this to say, Dec 25, 2011 @ 6:26 pm (Quote)

Yikes run!!!!!

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Jane had this to say, Dec 25, 2011 @ 6:27 pm (Quote)

“Actually, I think you’ve just answered everything I needed to know! Thank you for your time.”

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JC Reply:
December 26th, 2011 at 3:02 pm JC(Quote)

Ding ding ding!!! LOL

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Tee had this to say, Dec 25, 2011 @ 7:21 pm (Quote)

Run, OP, run! Run as fast as you can!

In all fairness, I’ve been known to say something similar to doctors! I’ll be there for one thing and have them be asking 30 thousand questions that have nothing to do with anything. That tends to make me impatient.

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Slee had this to say, Dec 25, 2011 @ 7:47 pm (Quote)

wow. how about “well, in that case, i’ll be going. have a nice day and good luck with that whole new paying patients thing.”

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Jespren had this to say, Dec 25, 2011 @ 10:37 pm (Quote)

Reminds me of my first OB appt where the answer to about 10 questions (out of maybe 13 or 14) was ‘oh we don’t keep track of that’. *rolls eyes* I knew they legally *had* to for insurance purposes, but I didn’t call her on it because I already knew I wasn’t using her for the birth.

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Jessica had this to say, Dec 25, 2011 @ 11:02 pm (Quote)

If enough time was taken to write them down, they need to be answered.

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Stacie had this to say, Dec 25, 2011 @ 11:31 pm (Quote)

“oh well fantastic. I need to know the answers to all of them. You can start at the top… Oh you meant what YOU think I need to know. Well good bye then.”

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Mama Wrench had this to say, Dec 26, 2011 @ 6:24 am (Quote)

“okay then, what I need to know are your c-section rate, your induction rate, what you consider reasons for induction, under what circumstances you order pitocin, and your threshold for FTP. Is that easier for you?”

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Ethel had this to say, Dec 26, 2011 @ 8:26 am (Quote)

I really would blame this on insurance and billing more then the doctor actually, they probably really don’t have the time to answer all the questions and do everything they need to do. It isn’t fair to the patient or the doctor.

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jaed Reply:
December 26th, 2011 at 11:13 am jaed(Quote)

“Insurance” doesn’t force a doctor to spend four minutes with each patient. The doctor does that. If reimbursements are too low – and that’s more true for Medicaid than for insurance – that’s a problem for the doctor’s financial goals, but it’s not a direct requirement that the doctor scant patients on time.

That’s assuming the doctor is in private practice, of course. If he or she is a corporate employee (e.g. Kaiser), then there may be maximum-time requirements set by the employer… in which case the complaint should go to the employer.

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Details had this to say, Dec 26, 2011 @ 9:49 am (Quote)

You know, I used to takes books with me to my appointments. Books from the childbirth educator training course that I was working my way through the reading list for. I read them in the waiting room and the doctor never made any negative comments and I never really asked any questions. Perhaps the doctor needs to give out a reading list of books he agrees with. Then they will all be on the same page.

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