What Happens While You Wait at the Doctor's Office?

As you wait in the doctor’s office and stare at the obligatory photographs of landscapes, have you ever wondered what’s going on while you wait? You might think that you’re simply waiting around because too many patients are scheduled to be seen, but the truth is that there is a lot more happening behind the scenes than you might realize.

Your Records and Images

Even 20 years ago, doctors were dependent on physical copies of things like paperwork, your medical history, and any X-rays that needed to be sent along by mail or fax machine. While PACS software and digital copies of records make the process much easier and practically instantaneous, the doctor still needs time to review your medical history. There might be something in those years of files that has changed or needs immediate attention. This is especially true if you are visiting a specialist or a referral, someone whom you have never met before.

Making Rounds

With so many other patients to see, your physician is a busy person. Treating a young boy with strep throat one moment might transition into an exam for a pregnant woman the next. A tremendous amount of memorization and knowledge is needed to thoroughly yet quickly treat many people a day. The average doctor sees about 19 patients daily, each one as unique as the previous, so remember that it’s worth waiting for them. Quality care takes quality time!

Bloodwork, Labs and Fluids

Despite what you might think, fasting is not a way for medical professionals to torture you. An accurate blood reading is essential when you are having yours tested, and foods and drinks will compromise the results. This is also true when you’re having your urine tested, so ask ahead of time if you need to be fasting.

It takes time for the phlebotomists to do their jobs, and this goes beyond simply taking a few vials of your blood. Their real work begins once you leave the lab: Labeling and organizing your samples in a refrigerator (along with those belonging to other patients); running them through machines and looking under microscopes to determine blood type and cell counts; and checking samples for diseases and other oddities.

Nurses Unite

It might annoy you that it takes an additional 15 minutes longer than it should for your doctor’s nurse to come get your vitals, but there is something very important to remember. It doesn’t matter what kind of medical facility you’re visiting, one universal truth exists: Nurses are some of the busiest people in the building. Doctors can diagnose and prescribe treatment plans, but nurses are usually the ones who do all the heavy lifting—and this can mean literally as well as figuratively! While you are quietly waiting as the paper lining on the exam table crunches beneath you, remember that every nurse is extremely busy at all times and is trying to give everyone the same quality care that they want to give you.

Checking In, Checking Out

You already know how difficult it can be to squeeze yourself an appointment into a highly-sought-after doctor’s office, so imagine the stress that administrative assistants and scheduling managers must suffer while booking them. As the first line of defense when you call the doctor, these specialists field calls to pharmacies, other offices, patients’ homes, and an endless list of other locations. Although software and special applications can streamline the process, dealing with clients of all ages and backgrounds is no easy task.

What happens at the doctor’s office as you sit and wait is a complex web of background processes. Everyone has a job to do, and nobody’s job is less important than anyone else’s. It takes a tremendous amount of teamwork to make a medical facility function well, so keep that in the back of your mind the next time you find yourself checking the clock while you wait to be seen.