Can you contact your doctor after hours?

[GaNewChick]

My MIL was an office manager *retired* for a group of doctors for over 30 years, so yes ~ if I really needed to contact my doctor at home after hours, I could. But we have never done it...have always used the ER if it couldn't wait until the office opened. I do know that the only way he would ever be called, was if it was serious enough ~ his mother would call.

 

[Rosalind]

I can get a doctor who is a member of my doctor's group practice. They take turns on who is going to handle the after hours stuff. But I do have to leave a message and they get back to me only if it's fairly urgent. Fairly urgent == I need a doctor to tell me if my illness/injury is serious enough to merit a trip to the ER or if it can wait till tomorrow. No doctor needs to check your medical records to tell you what symptoms require a trip to the ER and what can wait, or what they might be willing to trek into the office to manage.

This is actually one thing I consider when picking a new doctor, whether or not they are a member of a group practice that handles after hours calls. But I do recognize that it is a luxury not available to everyone.

 

[wombat]

Most of the time, the pharmacist can tell you if there is an exact substitution that is a cheaper generic.

If this is a new prescription, and you've not even started yet, is there any harm in waiting until tomorrow to contact the doctor, and then getting the prescription filled?

 

[Luna_Chick66]

Can you contact your doctor after hours?

Sure can. I even have his parents number when he goes to California on vacation to visit them. Oh, I also do his medical billing for him and I have his cell phone #, his pager #, his email, aim name, etc.

My husband is the buisness admin for the office. And yes, I used to work in the office (it's in NYC) and answer the phones and make appointments, etc. Now I work at home in the country.

I won't even get into insurance companies and ingrate patients.​

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
Yes, but the doctor still has to write or phone in a new prescription.

If this is a new prescription, and you've not even started yet, is there any harm in waiting until tomorrow to contact the doctor, and then getting the prescription filled?

Yes, I would like to start getting better as soon as possible. Their after-hour unavailability caused me to wait 3 full days, from Fri to Mon PM before I was able to get the meds I needed at a price I could bear.​

 

[briesberrypatch]

Frankly, after-hours accessibility isn't so important to me. We have a million urgent care centers that have the same insurance copays, etc, as a doctor's office.

However, I wish I could find a doctor that had appointments after 4:00 PM at least one day a week, didn't close completely on Wednesdays, and was open after noon on Fridays. Apparently I'm from Mars, because no one around here does ANY of those things.

 

[Sherry]

I can. I have home, cells and emails.