Can you contact your doctor after hours?

[Dar]

I did at home nursing for a while and my client was given new meds which I knew there was a conflict with his existing meds so I informed my client that we would wait till monday and call the Dr. This was a sunday afternoon... so to wait till monday would NOT have put his life in danger (it was a pre-surgical med) well he blew a gasket on me and preceded to call me an idiot and with that i was told to leave his house "cause I was refusing to administer prescribed meds" in his words my agency stood by my decision. I got a call from the surgeon who wrote the script, the client actually had the nerve to look the Dr.s home number up in the phone book and call the Dr at home on a Sunday. When the Dr. got the panicked message from his patient he called him right away. Was the Dr ever steamed that the patient did this and refused to answer his question and told him to follow the instructions of his nurse (me) or go to the hospital.

So yes Dr.s should be able to take the Dr. hat off and be regular Joe at a family BBQ.

I dont want to sound snarky or judgemental with my following statement so please dont read it with a "tone"
1) you know your drug coverages for the most part, have the Dr. write on the script substitutions are allowed
2) you know roughly when my script is about to run out, most (not all) pharmacies will advise you that this is your last refill time to go see doc.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I fully agree doctors need some down time. Same with dentists and other health care professionals.

If it is outside of office hours, I get a recorded message telling me office hours. I also get a phone number to call in case of immediate problems. Several doctors have a rotating schedule that one is on call to handle this type of problems while the others get the down time.

 

[rainplace]

For most of my life I didn't have insurance and used the community sliding scale fee clinic. I had a great GP who saw my boys and me. I remember him calling me from his vacation to give me test results because he didn't want me to have to wait an extra 5 days wondering. Two evenings a week he did a homeless clinic and any of his patients were welcome to come down if they needed emergency care that didn't require the ER.

When I got insurance and moved further away, I started using more expensive care, but one day realized that I wasn't getting better care. They just did more tests and charged more. And forget being able to get a hold of anyone after hours. I went through several doctors and started getting more frustrated that sometimes these doctors couldn't even remember my name from one visit to the next. Not even telephone follow-ups when changing medications to see how it was working.

I now take my insurance and drive the extra hour and a half to my old clinic. I'm sure they appreciate the full payment (which is half the price of the other places I tried - too bad the insurance doesn't give a discount on premiums for shopping around) and I appreciate the doctors that remember my name and medical history, and are more accessible.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I think the key wording is "we would not abuse that priviledge"

Our patients get our cell# and are allowed to call when ever there is an emergency. Emergency.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I was under the mistaken impression that most physicians, upon choosing to enter the medical profession, would have counted "inconvenient hours" and "after-hours consultation" among the cost of a career in this business. Just like fire fighters have to accept late-night summons as a routine part of their jobs. There are many many other careers to choose from that offer neat 9-5 M-F hours and will never demand a bit of overtime attention. I just never thought that Family Physician would ever be included in that category.

I know that times have changed and so have medical practices. I know that the physician who makes house calls is a rare if not extinct creature. But I didn't know that doctors who take calls after hours were also on the Endangered list.

For the past 16 years or so my only contact with doctors has been for matters obstetrical or pediatric. And I was accustomed to the type of care where I could call at any time -- with any matter that was of urgent concern to me -- and at least be able to speak with an answering service, who would relay my question to the doctor or nurse practitioner whose turn it was to be on call. I never had to wait overnight or over a weekend for an answer.

Because if it were a matter that could wait until office hours then of course I would wait until then to call. But there is an enormous number of issues that fall between a 9-1-1 emergency and a 2-3 day wait for an answer. And it feels really bad to hear "talk to the machine" from the professional you are trusting with your life for your medical care.

No one expects every doctor to be on call 24/7, of course we know they have personal needs & families to attend to. But it shouldn't be so difficult for all the doctors & nurse practitioners in an office to take turns fielding the calls each night. A big part of medicine is psychosomatic and it really aids your cure to know you're being treated by someone who gives a poop about you. Or at least acts that way.

I went to the doctor to be treated for high blood pressure which I believe is largely due to stress caused by Mister's unemployment & our lack of funds. When the prescription was written I asked if it was one of the low-cost ones at WalMart. The nurse practitioner said "I don't know". I should have pursued it more at that time, but I didn't think there would be such a problem making contact after hours. I was concerned about the high BP and anxious to begin taking the Rx as soon as possible. But if there was an equivalent Rx that cost 90% less it was important to me to obtain that instead.

So I was just curious to see if this was a customary practice with most doctors' offices these days, so I won't get my blood pressure up any more getting irritated over their lack of communication after office hours.

 

[Terri]

i work for a vet and we answered our own after hours emergency calls untill, we had a client to call me up to go get her dogs vaccination history because they were going to Disney. Now we have a select few who have our cellphone numbers.

 

[English Chick]

We have a service here in the UK called NHS Direct... if you are worried about anything at all you can call them 24/7 and receive advice.... there is no need to call your Dr other than the need for a home visit during the night etc etc., if someone is really sick and cannot wait till the surgery opens.... in an emergency its 999 (911) .... no-one here would have a Dr's home number ever .....

There is even talk now of getting Dr's to open their surgeries for even longer hours and week-ends... !!

 

[BlackBart]

My Doctor makes house calls and you can call him if it is a emergency and he will call you back but most people use 911, clinics and hospital emergency, all free to the public but you have to pay for the ambulance ride (if you need a ambulance, some medical plans will reimburse you for that fee)

 

[Chickenmaven]

I really love my doctor. She is smart & thorough & caring. I would never expect her to interrupt her personal life to help me unless I was in the hospital. Should we expect the same 24/7 service from medical professionals that we get at the local 7-11 ? I think that is really unrealistic.

Here is the big issue with expecting after hours service: A doctor who is at home or at their kid's soccer game CANNOT access your medical records. Do you really want someone who treats 800 or 900 patients to make a decision based on memory? Or to treat your grandma based on what SHE can remember about her meds? I think that good, comprehensive family medical care requires cooperation on both sides. Otherwise, people can go to some "ready med" or the E.R. and get so-so care.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
Umm, I don't. In fact, I think that underscores my point.

And just like 7-11 has their employees working in shifts, I think it's just as reasonable for doctors to take turns fielding the after-hours calls. Not for life-threatening emergencies, not for issues that can wait until office hours, and not for questions requiring the doctor to consult a patient's personal records. But for the myriad urgent issues that crop up after hours as inconveniently for the patient as for the physician, and can be resolved over the phone.

I'm not talking about calling a doctor on their home phone, I've never done that, never had one make their number available. But I'm accustomed to being able to speak to a human at an answering service when I called my doctor after hours, and then waiting up to an hour for the doctor-on-call or a nurse practitioner to call back.

I was surprised to learn that this custom has gone the way of the house call, surprised to hear other's surprise that I would ever expect this kind of service from people in business to care for my health.

Our chickens are cared for more attentively than this.