What are the most bothersome patient behaviors?

Medscape asks a group of neurologists:

The top 5 most bothersome patient behaviors from most to least were the following: no show for appointment, verbally abusive with your staff, poor compliance with medications or treatment, late for appointment, and do not know the medications that they are taking. Of the 30 items, those behaviors as well as answering cell phones during office visits and unnecessary phone calls after hours were among the most highly rated as bothersome.

(via GruntDoc)

Comments

Anonymous
when they tell u that ur no better than (intellectually or skill wise) than a plumber, carpenter, or fireman
and then they present u with data that backs up their claims that docs operate in a cartel
dam thats annoying, but whatever, screw free markets i get paid the big bucks
go feudalism!!
(By 2014, the nation will have 212,000 physician openings due to population growth and retiring physicians, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-03-02-doctor-shortage_x.htm)
Diora
Is there any reason doctors cannot charge for missed appointments? Dentist do it or at least warn that they do – never had a chance to find out.
Anonymous
We have a 2 MD office . We inform patients about our no-show policy of charging $25. My impression is that it probably reduces the problem, but does seriously piss off some others, who tend to seek care elsewhere if they are charged. We wish we did not need to do this but it is very costly to be idle while the office is open.
Anonymous
Charging for missed appointments is unprofessional. I go by the 3 strikes and your out principal. 3 missed appointments and dismiss you.
Okulus
Charging for missed uncancelled appointments or appointments cancelled within an unreasonably short time of the scheduled appointment (usually 1-2 business days) is common practice in private practices and is not in any way unprofessional. Whoever said it was unprofessional is either clueless or FOS, probably both.
Missed appointment charges are not charges for services rendered but are penalties for office time wasted. As long as the policy is posted for patients to see, the practice is both ethical and permissible.
Habitual no-show or cancellation may be cause for dismissal. How many incidents are allowed is again up to the practitioner. Some allow rescheduling but limit rescheduled slots to end of morning or end of day appointments only, others require non-refundable deposits on a third re-scheduling. All of these methods are permissible and ethical.
Anonymous
I have never been a no-show.
I did once cancel a routine appointment with less than 24 hours notice because I came down overnight with a GI bug and had vomiting and diarrhea for 12 hours nonstop. I would have been incredibly pissed if I had been charged a penalty, and I probably would have paid it only under threat of being taken to small claims court.
Don’t you think there should be a happy medium here? It’s one thing if someone habitually blows off appointments or cancels at the last minute because they’d rather go shopping. It’s quite another when someone normally keeps their appointments on time and has to cancel because of an unforeseen illness or some other problem. It’s called life, folks, and it happens to all of us. We can’t control everything.
Then again, maybe you’d rather have me puking on your waiting room floor or on your shoes.
Anonymous
Patients that are your typical “no show” appointments on a regular basis are usually your non-compliant patients as well. Document,charge them a no show fee , have them sign a note that they undestand they are in violation of your practice standards, if still non compliant then dismiss.Simple.

What are the most bothersome patient behaviors?

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