4 ms·

As a patient, post-2020 I find even basics like appointment scheduling to be hard. (I'm also an MD, which makes all of this easier for me, and yet it's still a

As a patient, post-2020 I find even basics like appointment scheduling to be hard. (I'm also an MD, which makes all of this easier for me, and yet it's still a morass of scheduling hell, too many phone calls, too many logins/reauthentications, etc.)

solardev 3y ago
What happened in 2020?
- str3wer 3y ago
  a global pandemic?
  - solardev 3y ago
    Ohhhh yeah, lol. I always forget that really took off in 2020 (since it's called COVID-19). What even is time anymore =/ Anecdotally, though, it seemed like a lot of healthcare providers at the time moved to having better online appointment systems and remote visits, which made scheduling a lot easier for me. Probably a heavily YMMV situation though.
modeless 3y ago
Appointment scheduling is beyond awful these days. We're getting specialist appointments scheduled literally a year out, or just outright rejected because they're too full. It's de facto rationing.
- wrp 3y ago
  Experiencing that, too. Are these long waits due to anything other than a shortage of specialists? If not, why is there a shortage? I thought more doctors wanted to be specialists because of better hours and pay.
  - modeless 3y ago
    There is a shortage of every kind of doctor engineered by the AMA, which is essentially a labor union.
- genocidicbunny 3y ago
  My PCP retired over a year ago and I have been trying to find a new one. The few even taking new patients would either schedule the 'first meet' appointment several months out (and then go 'whoops, the doctor is not in the office on that day, can we reschedule for another 4 months out?'), or I would basically just get the cold shoulder when they found out what insurance I have. I actually ended up finding a new PCP in the next state over. It's a 10hr drive one way to see them, but when adding up the time, travel costs and other expenses, it's still cheaper than most of the concierge health services in my area.
- bongodongobob 3y ago
  Seems like all healthcare is that way now. I had a bad tooth infection this year and I couldn't find a dentist to take me. Called the hospital and they said they couldn't do anything with it. I finally just walked into a dentist, showed them my swollen face (my eye was almost swollen shut) and said "I need you to pull this out or give me the tools to do it myself." Same with mental health care. Tried to find a therapist, literally everyone booked out 18 months, many just said no, not taking new patients. But at least we don't have death panels amirite?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
bogota 3y ago
I wanted to get a checkup and every place i called was months of waiting. The ER and Urgent Care is the only functional piece of the US health care system left.
wrp 3y ago
Although access got much worse in 2020, my impression is things are back to about what they were in 2019, which is still bad. My memory is that scheduling first became a serious issue when many doctors took early retirement to avoid dealing with the effects of the ACA. If you ignore the COVID bump, how would you describe the changes in accessibility from about 2014 until now?
- carbocation 3y ago
  People who had to deal with a lot of health care in 2014 may have had a worse experience, but my limited experience was that scheduling was pretty simple and clinics were more proactive, if that makes sense. (I was also younger, so had fewer things to talk to my doctors about...)
darth_avocado 3y ago
I agree. Problem is that when you get an appointment, you don’t get an MD or DO or any doctor, only FNP or PA or other Nurse practitioners. And unfortunately for me, my experience with them has been terrible at best. The insurance still gets charged the same as a doctor, but somehow I get subpar care, where almost always things get worse and I finally need an MD to do a proper diagnosis. Even things like my yearly checkups which technically doesn’t need an MD, have gone poorly. One of the NPs strongly wanted me on statins of slightly elevated cholesterol meanwhile the MD that I eventually took a second opinion from, suggested that for my age and physical condition, I most definitely don’t need to be on them.

solardev 3y ago

What happened in 2020?

str3wer 3y ago
a global pandemic?
- solardev 3y ago
  Ohhhh yeah, lol. I always forget that really took off in 2020 (since it's called COVID-19). What even is time anymore =/ Anecdotally, though, it seemed like a lot of healthcare providers at the time moved to having better online appointment systems and remote visits, which made scheduling a lot easier for me. Probably a heavily YMMV situation though.

modeless 3y ago

Appointment scheduling is beyond awful these days. We're getting specialist appointments scheduled literally a year out, or just outright rejected because they're too full. It's de facto rationing.

wrp 3y ago
Experiencing that, too. Are these long waits due to anything other than a shortage of specialists? If not, why is there a shortage? I thought more doctors wanted to be specialists because of better hours and pay.
- modeless 3y ago
  There is a shortage of every kind of doctor engineered by the AMA, which is essentially a labor union.
genocidicbunny 3y ago
My PCP retired over a year ago and I have been trying to find a new one. The few even taking new patients would either schedule the 'first meet' appointment several months out (and then go 'whoops, the doctor is not in the office on that day, can we reschedule for another 4 months out?'), or I would basically just get the cold shoulder when they found out what insurance I have. I actually ended up finding a new PCP in the next state over. It's a 10hr drive one way to see them, but when adding up the time, travel costs and other expenses, it's still cheaper than most of the concierge health services in my area.
bongodongobob 3y ago
Seems like all healthcare is that way now. I had a bad tooth infection this year and I couldn't find a dentist to take me. Called the hospital and they said they couldn't do anything with it. I finally just walked into a dentist, showed them my swollen face (my eye was almost swollen shut) and said "I need you to pull this out or give me the tools to do it myself." Same with mental health care. Tried to find a therapist, literally everyone booked out 18 months, many just said no, not taking new patients. But at least we don't have death panels amirite?
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

bogota 3y ago

I wanted to get a checkup and every place i called was months of waiting. The ER and Urgent Care is the only functional piece of the US health care system left.

wrp 3y ago

Although access got much worse in 2020, my impression is things are back to about what they were in 2019, which is still bad. My memory is that scheduling first became a serious issue when many doctors took early retirement to avoid dealing with the effects of the ACA. If you ignore the COVID bump, how would you describe the changes in accessibility from about 2014 until now?

carbocation 3y ago
People who had to deal with a lot of health care in 2014 may have had a worse experience, but my limited experience was that scheduling was pretty simple and clinics were more proactive, if that makes sense. (I was also younger, so had fewer things to talk to my doctors about...)

darth_avocado 3y ago

I agree. Problem is that when you get an appointment, you don’t get an MD or DO or any doctor, only FNP or PA or other Nurse practitioners. And unfortunately for me, my experience with them has been terrible at best. The insurance still gets charged the same as a doctor, but somehow I get subpar care, where almost always things get worse and I finally need an MD to do a proper diagnosis. Even things like my yearly checkups which technically doesn’t need an MD, have gone poorly. One of the NPs strongly wanted me on statins of slightly elevated cholesterol meanwhile the MD that I eventually took a second opinion from, suggested that for my age and physical condition, I most definitely don’t need to be on them.