Would your doctor pay for wasted time?

[BridgeTheGap]

(CNN) -- Elaine Farstad got antsy as she waited for her doctor, who was late for her scheduled appointment. Then she got downright impatient. Then, as nearly two hours passed, she got mad. Then she came up with an idea.

"I decided to bill the doctor," she says. "If you waste my time, you've bought my time."

When Farstad returned home, she figured out her hourly wage working as an IT specialist at Boeing in Everett, Washington. She doubled it for the two hours she'd spent in the waiting room, and mailed the invoice to her doctor.

"It's ludicrous -- why would I wait for free?" says Farstad, who is now an engineering graduate student at North Carolina State University. "Like we all learned in kindergarten, it's about respecting each other."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/30/time.worth.money.cohen/index.html

[bemildred]

1. Just walk out and refuse to pay if they don't show up on time. nt

[ejpoeta]

2. well, doctors are charging us for missing an appointment. i don't see why they shouldn't be charged

also if they did that. i can't say as i have ever had a doctor do that though.

[Donnachaidh]

3. My obstetrician kept me waiting 4 HOURS for an ultrasound

And his office harpies raised a holy stink when I stated I needed to pee (after drinking the quart of water for the ultrasound 3 HOURS before).

I watched in horror as the doctor strolled in with golf clubs! F*cker was on the golf course while here I was, 8 months pregnant, bloated with water, and being told not to go to the bathroom.

I tore his receptionist a new one and tried to find another ob that afternoon. Of course, no one would touch me that far along....

[kickysnana]

8. Just wondering why you didn't tear the OB/GYN a new one since receptionists have no control?

[Donnachaidh]

9. she certainly had control over allowing me to pee

And got loud and stupid when I first asked after an hour and a half. And believe me, I gave the doctor unending shit about his carting hsi clubs through a reception room filled with pregnant women waiting on his ass.

[kickysnana]

10. Sorry. You were right about the nurse. I shouldn't try to read so much so late. n/t

[tk2kewl]

4. Seinfeld. nt

[Blue Meany]

5. I did this to my dentist, once...

I told him in advance that I didn't have time to wait and that I expected the appointment to start on time. I waited two hours, and I billed him for it. He ddin't pay it, but he never kept me waiting again.

[Philippine expat]

6. Not like this is anything new

I've heard of this a few times in the past20 years or so.
On a personal note if the Dr apologizes I don't mind

[Deep13]

7. If someone comes in with a serious problem...

...the doc cannot just brush that patient off. As a result, sometimes later appointments have to wait while the doctor attends to the unplanned, complex problem. I'm not saying doctors are never inconsiderate, but often it is because an earlier appointment requires more time than was planned for to do the job correctly.

[PADemD]

11. If there is an emergency appointment

the receptionist can phone the next appointment and inform them or reschedule.

When I was working, I called the receptionist before I left work to ask if the doctor was running late.