I read some online reviews of this doctor that said he was great, so I made an appointment.
Office staff was efficient enough and nice enough at first (I called ten minutes before my appointment to tell them I was running five minutes late, but that I had downloaded the patient history forms already and filled them out so I would be ready when I got there ~ they only heard "I'm running a few minutes late, but..." and said "That's fine!" and hung up.), and facility was clean enough (despite the only bathroom being on the second floor, so had to make an elevator ride down to use it).
But while waiting in the waiting room I could clearly hear the office staff talking to patients on the phone as well as each other about said patients. I heard more than one name of a patient and what was wrong with them. Isn't there a law against that? Something called HIPPA?
Despite feeling a little uneasy that maybe one day MY info would be broadcast to whoever was in the waiting room, I stayed. And stayed and stayed and stayed. My appointment was for ten ~ I waited over an hour. I asked twice what was the holdup, thinking maybe an emergency had come in or something which would make the lateness completely understandable. Nothing. Staff had no idea why Dr. Meynig was running late or when he'd be in to see me. They didn't even offer a little nicety like "I'm sorry he's running late." or "Would you like something to drink?" or ... hell, I don't know ... ANY kind of acknowledgement that maybe this was a tad exasperating for me.
During my second inquiry, we heard a door opening and the doc coming out and they said, "Well, there he is now." I looked around to see the doc and his other patients coming out, made eye contact with the doc and he said a cursory "Hi", then proceeded to walk past me to the staff, look at some papers, and say, "Do you want me to talk to her now?" Who? ME? The patient who's been waiting for an hour? No "I'm sorry I'm running late." or even "I'll be right with you."
Feeling invisible doesn't inspire much confidence, so I told them all that I'd make another appointment with another doctor and walked out. When I called back to ask them to shred my paperwork, still no apology, explanation, small attempt to make me feel better and acknowledge what had just happened. At this point, even an insincere apology would have been welcomed.
I understand some doctors spend extra time with their patients, asking questions, being thorough. I like that. Shows they care. I'd gotten the idea from reading online that he was that way. Great! But schedule appropriately. Don't cram so many appointments in the day that they're an hour late by TEN IN THE MORNING. (Do people with four o'clock appointments have to wait 'til 7pm?) And when you are running an hour late, at least offer some kind of small acknowledgement of it for crying out loud.
I hope the reason for all this is that Dr. Meynig does spend extra time with is patients. We need more doctors like that. We DON'T need more doctors who think their time is so much more important than ours. Waiting fifteen minutes to see a doctor? Sure! Twenty or thirty? Okay. Forty five minutes, especially when I was a few minutes late myself ~ probably. But over an hour? With no explanation, apology, comment, nothing?
When a person's sick, they need confidence and trust in their doctor. They need to feel like they matter, like it matters to the doctor if they get well, like the doctor at least cares enough to give his best. I felt like I was just another cash cow to make some money from.
Last time it took me a few hours on the internet, researching, to find a doctor (add that to the wasted morning last Monday ~ thanks for wasting an entire day of mine, Dr. Meynig.). I'm off to spend a few more hours finding another. I hope this time it's worth it. read more
