Is it just me or are there a lot of annoying/hostile/subtly belligerent secretaries? I find some secretaries even try to answer some of the medical questions I've asked. One secretary told me not she wouldn't speak to a resident because she wouldn't think it would help my situation :O

Maybe it's just me, but I find they don't like booking appointments to avoid adding another burden to the doctor's schedule.

anyone feel this?

Oh, don't even get me started on this topic......I've had my share of unpleasant doctor's office secretaries. I think most of us probably have at some point because we "frequent" doctor's offices. My internist's office is the worst offender.
If they are snippy with me, I'm snippy back. Kind of like a bully, once you stand up to them, they back down. Over the years, I've grown real tired of dealing with the "attitude" some of them display. I was a secretary once, and I don't think I ever talked to patients the way I've been talked to
Overall though, most of the time it goes okay, but there have been times that weren't pleasant for sure. And I have been known to complain if you really tick me off!

Boy, I feel real lucky compared to you guys. With Kaiser, there are no secretaries. If you need an urgent appointment you talk to the advice nurse. If you want a message passed on to the doctor, they just type it in immediately and send it electronically to the doc, or you can email him directly. I like the email best, that way you are sure of what message is being delivered.

I haven't been to a doctor in a private practice since I was 10. I can't imagine a receptionist/secretary trying to field calls on medical issues. Don't they know that is practicing medicine or nursing without a license? I believe that their job is to take messages and deliver them, not make medical decisions!!

Jan

We're not in Kaiser, but I don't think I've ever had a receptionist try to make any determination of a medical question's priority, either. If one ever did, I would complain to the doctor.

my GIs secretary does. she takes pride in thinking that she has a solid medical background. the other day I called to make an appointment, she insisted I see my surgeon instead! WTF? I tried to play nice because secretaries are usually close with their doctors. So , I was persistent and made the appointment anyway.

Hi Blowe,

I've been blessed with very considerate secretaries, thank goodness. Personaly, I would let your doctor know your concerns. True, the secretary is the buffer between the doctor and patient and has to use her judgement, but if you are not happy how she is handling your calls, I would ask her to inform your doctor that you would like to speak to him/her directly and leave your number for a call back.


Johnny

Oh, absolutely! The doctor needs to know how his employees are conducting themselves. As their supervisor, he is responsible for their actions. If you are given medical advice by a unlicensed person and something goes wrong, the doctor providing the supervision is a liable party.

I can see where there are circumstances when it is appropriate. For example: doctors may have written protocols for various scenarios, instructing his secretaries to advise clients, such as when to go to the emergency room, or his standard suggestions for routine inquiries. But, the unlicensed person should be telling you that it is the doctor's protocol that she is following.

Most doctors are acutely aware of their liability and would want to know if anyone in their office was acting out of their scope. Claims being filed raise their malpractice insurance premiums.

Jan

I worked in a doctor's office working for 13 doctors (my own doctor included) in total. It was made perfectly clear to us that we should never make judgement on whether a patient needed medical attention and always asked for advice from one of the doctors available before advising the patient on what to do or what would happen. If there wasn't a doctor available (didn't happen very often with 13 GPs) then we would suggest that the patient seek help in A&E if they were worried. Mostly though there was always a doctor on call who we would contact and give the patient details to. We would always get the patient's telephone details and the on-call doctor would ring them back.

Having said that there were one or two past employees who would take it upon themselves to decide who was urgent and who wasn't, but heads would roll if the patient made a complaint! Needless to say they didn't stay on the payroll for very long!

On the other side of the coin, our doctor's office is a walk-in clinic and we used to get some very scary characters coming in and demanding attention, especially on a Friday night, so receptionists and secretaries also had to develope a pretty thick skin along with the ability to assess who was in urgent need of attention and those who were just seeking attention. A very difficult task at times, especially as the clinic didn't employ any security staff.....

Shell

Since I worked in a doctor's office, I know you can get some real strange birds, VERY rude, nasty patients, every type of person there is! So you do grow a thick skin, or put up a front sometimes. I suppose if more of us lived by the Golden Rule, the world would be a lot nicer.
I almost always give the benefit of the doubt but occasionally I reach my thresh-hold.

The secretary should not be making medical decisions on behalf of the doctor. If she could, she wouldn't be working the front desk......

I've definitely been in situations where I have had trouble leaving a message for a doctor if it doesn't seem urgent or important enough to the secretary - which is your first hurdle, getting past the secretary. It would be much easier, especially in this day and age, to use e-mail. None of my doctors do, that I know about, but I've never asked either. I guess I assume they'd let me know if that was an acceptable means of communication.

I changed surgeons between Step 1 and Step 2 because I wouldn't put up with my first surgeon's rude office manager. I've since been back to that office for some checkups and amazingly, her attitude has improved 100%. Come to find out, I wasn't the only patient he lost because of her!

Shelby I agree, and we would never make that decision without the doctor's approval. What I meant was that the clinic would get drunks (or worse) in on occasion and in those circumstances, after consulting with the doctor on duty, we would be the ones who had to relay to the patient whether they (the doctor) thought they were a priority or not. Not very fair on the staff really and on occasion the police had to be called in because irate patients would take out their frustration on whoever was on the front desk.

There are good and bad in any profession but simple curtesy goes a long way to defusing most situations. There is no excuse for ill manners or rudeness and that goes for patients and staff alike.

Just my two pence worth.

Shell

How's this for annoying. I was supposed to have my 6 mos post TD scope on Tuesday at 1:30. Monday at 3:00 when I am literally reading the instructions for the prep, the scheduling secretary calls to reschedule me from 1:30 to 9am. Of course I had moved everything around at work, left early using precious sick leave, and arranged a ride and all with my girlfriend, so 9am was out of the question. The secretary had called me right after my last visit a month ago when I originally set the date for the colonoscopy and left a message for me to call her back. I called her back 3 times and never heard from her until Monday so figured all was ok. Her response when I asked her about it was "your right I dropped the ball, but your not the only one who got inconvenienced here, I'm one person dealing with 50 patients and can't make everyone happy". So now I have to wait another 2 weeks to get in. Sorry for the long post, just had to vent.

Doesn't sound like she's making anyone happy. I think she needs to find another job in which she doesn't "have" to make 50 people happy. You should also let your doctor know that she pulled this. She's completely out of line.

And it's not like you need this right now after what you've been going through.

kathy

Aghhh, the secretaries at my primary doc irritate me to no end. They ALWAYS give the wrong number to my doctor to call me back with. They ask me what number to call me back with, I give them my cell, and they give the doctor my house number! Then, because my brother is always on the phone, I always miss the call and then its like a field day trying to get ahold of the doc. And I know its the secretaries because when I call my docs voicemail and give her my cell, she calls my cell. Raaahhhrr!