Elizabeth goes to the allergy/asthma specialist once a year. LAST year, after I made her appointment, I noticed they had a way to make appointments ONLINE. There was a big sign up on the wall about it. I couldn’t believe I’d used the phone like a SUCKER, and was very excited to use the new system the NEXT year.
So this year, first I stressed about needing to call to make the appointment. THEN I remembered the online option! I logged in to my account. I clicked “Make an appointment online!” I selected our preferred doctor. I filled out a form selecting a best day of the week, second-best, etc., along with times. I filled out the free-answer area, saying I actually had even more days/times we could do, and clarifying what those were. I added a comment saying that I was so happy they had online appointment-booking now, because I always got flustered trying to make appointments on the phone. Last, I selected “email” from the area that asked if I wanted my appointment time sent to me by phone or email.
HALF AN HOUR LATER, my phone rang. I let the machine get it. It was the receptionist at the allergy/asthma place. She said she’d received my online-appointment form, and they could totally set up an appointment for me, just call her back at the office number.
Imagine my face. Imagine it.
Here are my two choices for making an appointment, apparently:
1. Call the office and make an appointment.
2. Log into my online account, fill out a form with all our available days/times, select our doctor, specify that I would like to be contacted by email, and then call the office and make an appointment.
WHY IS THE FORM EVEN THERE. WHY.
THIS. PAINS. ME. GREATLY. It also reminds me of the online system our school district uses…I have to call the school to update emergency contacts even though I can see that they are wrong RIGHT THERE ON MY SCREEN. I can’t even email the information to the school. I HAVE TO CALL.
This drives me nuts. However, there is hope: after many experiences exactly like yours, I recently made an appointment online and never once had to use the phone. They have sent me emails and text messages confirming the appointment — LOTS of emails and text messages, in fact, but I don’t mind! Because I haven’t had to interact with a person over the phone! Living in the future is great.
I had the exact same experience making my first online appointment. I filled out the form, giving several possible appointment times. I was given the choice as to whether they would contact me back via phone or email, and I selected email. A few hours later, there was a message on my answering machine, telling me they would be happy to schedule me and to call the office for an appointment. There was no problem with the time I suggested, it was fine. I’m confused. I don’t understand what the system if for. You put it well: There are two choices, either call for an appointment or else fill out all the information online and then call for an appointment.
That is the dumbest. I had to make an appt to get blood drawn recently and it was completely online. Pick your time, put in your name and email, bring your orders with you. Done! I don’t know why a doctor who already has all your records couldn’t do this.
This reminds me of kindergarten registration, where I was so impressed that they had a Google form for basic information. The school district has finally entered the information age! It’s a miracle! Right up until I dropped my kid off at kindergarten screening and was required to fill it all out again on paper. Because they couldn’t figure out how to print it.
*weeps*
Ooh, that would drive me bonkers. I have specified on online forms that I will not be contacted by phone – that I’m filling out the form for a reason and if they want to reach me, email is the only way.
UGH.
This is so frustrating and just stupid! My jaw dropped when you said the message asked you to call for an appointment! I was so happy for you to use the online option. To offer hope, our pediatrician’s office offers online scheduling that works. It goes exactly like Elizabeth’s doctor, but instead of calling a half hour later, I receive an email with my appointment date, time, doctor, and location. And then get the automated call a day or two before where I press a number to confirm, cancel, or change. I hope all of your doctors switch to a similar system soon.
That is insane. I happened upon a business that has online appointment booking when I was looking for an optometrist. Pick your doctor, see that doctor’s available appointment times, select one and you’re done! Unless I become unhappy with them or there’s some other reason I can’t go there, I will stay with them as long as they have online appointment scheduling.
My medical group makes appointments online. Only, actually. For real.
It is REALLY NICE.
Did you ask? Please tell me you asked the WHY?
I wouldn’t have. But maybe you did. Ooo! I would say: Wow! Can you tell me what I did wrong regarding using the online system? I thought I was saving you a phone call! I know how busy you must be.
OK I have never even SEEN an online appointment form like that before. I have some doctors where you can make appointments online, but you enter your information, select your doctor, and then it gives you a dropdown of availability and you can pick the time slot you want. Then you submit and get an instant email confirmation. Because that is how appointment making online is supposed to WORK. THIS seems more like it’s just to simplify the phone appointment process by reducing the amount of information you have to recite over the phone. Which is… something, I guess? But still seems like false advertising.
I really don’tmean to rub it in, but we have Kaiser Permamente insurance and here in Northern California (only Northern California!) there is an app that makes pretty much everything online/email based! It is soooooo wonderful. You make appointments online. You can even take a picture of a skin rash or weird mole or whatever and EMAIL it to your doctor and they will EMAIL you back with answers and advice and recommendations! No phone talking involved! It’s such a beautiful thing.
Not only you guys! I’m with Kaiser Northwest (and work for them too) and we can do that here. It’s awesome!
I had this happen exactly with my vet’s office. Except I never called them back and after a few days I actually got an email with an appointment time.
Same thing happened to me, except they waited two days to call me back and then they said I had to call THEM back and every time I have tried to call them THEY ARE CLOSED.
This is to make a dermatology appointment for a rash, which I do not want to discuss in detail on the phone in my cubicle, which is why I was so excited to see THE POINTLESS FORM.
You aren’t alone.
The medical community’s resistance to using email has baffled me for a long time. It makes me wonder if the issue is the receptionist/scheduler resisting email, rather than the system being faulty?
I am just remembering that my sons school would send important, time-sensitive documents home in my sons backpack. These are documents that the school is legally required to send 5 days in advance of meetings and would need to be able to prove they had done so should there ever be a legal matter. It is to THEIR BENEFIT to send electronically for CYA purposes and yet they continued to throw it in a young child’s backpack and assume it made it home (not to mention the fire-drill it would then cause me as I had to scan it and email to others who needed to review in a very short window of time). I happened to mention this to the school only to learn that they COULD send things electronically but the woman responsible for sending didn’t know how to attach documents in email. *insert head exploding here*
I realize this comment is not helpful at all, except to say that I feel your pain, Sister. :)
That is infuriating! Could you maybe call them back when you know they are closed and leave a message saying something like, “I’m not always available to answer the phone, so please just choose an appointment time based on the online form I submitted and email me the date and time you choose. I’ll be sure to email you back confirming the appointment”? It’s still not as good as just using the form in the first place, but at least you’d be redirecting the process back to the machines.
I. AM. HAVING. FEELINGS.
I just. No. I can’t. WHAT. WHAT WHAT WHAT.
Would you like to give ME your doctor’s phone number!? I WOULD LIKE TO CALL AND HAVE A SEVERELY WORDED CONVO WITH THEM on your behalf. THIS IS INSANITY, DOCTOR’S OFFICE. I DISALLOW IT.
Can you be hired to have severely worded phone conversations with people?
My doctor’s office does that too, or at least they did; obviously I gave up on the pointless form-filling, so for all I know they’ve changed it.
They also drive me nuts with getting a prescription refill. If you call to get one (press 4 for a…), you are sent to the voice-mail box to leave them all the information they need. I am FINE with this. However, if you call outside of office hours, you get The Service, and you know they aren’t taking everything down for a refill. You have to call when the office is open, in order to leave them a message.
And in non-medical craziness, I’m currently on unemployment after being laid off, and in MA, to file for your benefits, although you can do it online (praise the lord), you have to do it within certain hours. Even though it’s online and does not require a human. After 10 PM? Sorry, no can do. Maddening.
What fresh hell is this??????
Agh, that is maddening! I’m enraged on your behalf!
This reminds me of applying for jobs where they want your resume and a cover letter. Then they call you in for an interview and make you fill out an application where you give the exact same information as on your resume, except instead of typed, it’s handwritten and barely legible by the end because your hand is cramping from writing out your entire resume in your neatest handwriting and quickly because you don’t want to be either the person who took forever filling it out or the person with atrocious penmanship. Why don’t they just ask you to send in a filled out application in the first place?
Like they say, common sense isn’t all that common….
YES! Argh, the job applications. I have wondered this very thing my entire adult life. Maddening. You said it perfectly.
I manage a patient portal as part of my job, and we do online scheduling. Someone has to approve the appointments, but holy man would I be pissed if one of my schedulers decided to call people to schedule on the regular. The only time that’s ok is if the whole appointment is bananas complicated. Gah.
Yep. The same exact thing happened to me. I have nothing to add because it was exactly the same and I was also baffled.
Omg why.
So annoying! I hate calling to make appointments too. I love that my dermatologist is on ZocDoc so I can use that for him but still have to call the dentist, optometrist etc.
Ugh, yes! I hate calling for appointments too. It doesn’t help that I have a foreign accent too. Our Dr does a similar thing, except it turns out that I can’t select the one Dr that I actually want to select. And then when you read the form, it says the same thing – that they will call you back, once they get your preferred options. So annoying! I don’t want to talk to them on the phone! :P
HATE