First off: Dr. Bloom and his Physician Assistant are great. Personable, professional and inspire a…read moregreat deal of confidence, in any single interaction. We just have a such a hard time dealing with the office itself, we are trying out other doctors.
Disappointments, in descending priority order:
- Urgent appointments are usually about a week away, for example, I knew my teen was very ill, and it turned out he had strep, but we had to pay for multiple visits to Urgent care to get him diagnosed and treated, all within the 9 days we were told we'd have to wait to get into the office to see the Dr or PA.
- Appointments are kind of relative, here. Make one. Show up 10-15 minutes early, wait 30 in the waiting room and another 30 in back. Every. Time. After school, middle of the day; no difference, based on about 4 appointments for 3 family members in the last 9 months.
- the phone system is an irritating mess of menu selections, with messages in 2 languages, even after you are told to select a number to proceed in a single one. After you navigate far enough to be able to make an appointment, you get a message to call back during business hours. Instead of rattling off a phone number that doesn't apply to me, you might consider telling me sooner what those hours actually are... I called at 8:45 today, then at 9:15, and both times got to the make an appointment option, only to be told to call back during business hours. I will wait until after 10 just to see if I can get some help for my kid, then probably brace for another Urgent Care visit.
- front desk staff are frosty. I'm so sorry it's an interruption of your day to slide open the glass window and speak to me about how I'm here for an appointment with my sick child. Maybe you should find a job that doesn't require that task, and hopefully get more fulfillment in your life. It's not like any of us wanted to be at the Doctor, either; your irritation at my existence isn't really contributing anything helpful to the bad situation we are all in today.
UPDATE: on the day I published the minor rant above, I was offered, for the first time, over several illnesses, the option to be worked in at the end of the day. Additionally, for the first time, I wasn't treated like an interruption by the receptionist. If they could be more consistent in the level of office function, I'd feel better about this practice.