Please cancel your appointment if you can't make it

[Mrs. Tatis]

Hi. I need to vent for a second. I am going home because my 2 patients didn't show up, and they aren't answering their phones. I have waited 2 hours for them, and they aren't here. This is the second time this pay period this has happened. Please folks, if you can't make it for whatever reason, be considerate and call. Its very hard to get by when you are missing 33% of your paycheck, especially raising four boys and a girl. We don't need a reason, just need to know you can't make it.

Thanks,

Mimi

[Debjax]

Unfortunately, I think you're talking to the wrong group. We're the ones who ARE going to keep our appointments, since we know the risks of not doing so. It's the folks that are still in denial that are probably the noshows.

On the other side of that fence, my doctor ordered an MSLT over a month ago. I can't get the sleep lab to get it scheduled, I call them, he says he'll call me back with available dates...he was supposed to call me today and didn't. Going to have the doc send the order to another facility on Monday.

[sleeplessinaz]

yes--i DITTO DEBJAX!!! I always keep my appointments!! WHo is this message being directed to exactly???

[rested gal]

True, Deb and sleepless -- we'd keep our appointments or call if we had to cancel.

Good suggestion, Mimi. Out of the thousands of people who visit this message board, I can imagine there are quite a few who have a sleep study coming up and may have to miss it for one reason or another. Reminders to "Please call and cancel if you can't come" are never amiss, imho.

Also, if a person needs to cancel and someone else had wisely asked to be put on the waiting list for cancellations, that gives another OSA sufferer a chance to be called in for an earlier appointment, and get started that much sooner on the road to diagnosis and treatment.

[hobbs]

Trying for a baseball team?

[2girlsmom]

My husband got in on a cancellation last sunday night--his study would have been 2 more weeks out had someone not called... I also got in on a cancellation once so I am thankful when people are conisderate enough to call. All that said I am sorry for what you are going through!

[Mrs. Tatis]

yes--i DITTO DEBJAX!!! I always keep my appointments!! WHo is this message being directed to exactly???

This messages isn't being directed towards anyone, just a friendly suggestion to anyone who is going to have a sleep study in the future. People who are on CPAP are just as likely to not show up as anyone else. There is no reason to be offended, as 2 girlsmom confirmed, if we know a patient can't make it in, we can get someone else in that open slot. Our lab has a waiting list of 20 patients. We can't call them if the patient doesn't give us a heads up, because many patients show up for their sleep study late. In fact, I had a patient show up last week that was just shy of 2 hours late. If I called another patient thinking they weren't coming, someone would of have to go home, and when this happens, they rarely come back. Thanks 2girlsmon for you consideration. Its just part of the job knowing sometimes you have to go home, but the less it happens the better for everyone. This was my original point.

[Gerryk]

I had to wait a to get in to have my study done. I had to wait to get in to get my machine. I am not going to blow off an appointment. The place I had my study done is also my DME and they are in town. When they call and ask how soon I can be there I tell them to look out the window when they hang up. I am usually there within 15 minutes. They know I can usually get there fast and keep my appointments so they fit me in when I need something.

[roster]

A man called the doctor's office and says that his wife has the flu and needs an appointment.

The receptionist replied that the office was going to be closed for a couple of days, but that he could have an appointment in 3 days.

The man went ballistic and yelled into the phone, "Three days?!!! The doctor can't see her for three days?!!! She could be dead by then!"

Calmly the voice at the other end of the line replied, "If so, would you please call to cancel the appointment?"

[Debjax]

yes--i DITTO DEBJAX!!! I always keep my appointments!! WHo is this message being directed to exactly???

This messages isn't being directed towards anyone, just a friendly suggestion to anyone who is going to have a sleep study in the future. People who are on CPAP are just as likely to not show up as anyone else. There is no reason to be offended,

No offense taken here at all...I was just observing that most of us know better than to miss our studies, and if for some reason we can't make it, we would definitely call since not doing so might must make a reschedule....well....difficult.

Sleep study or any other appointment, it is only common courtesy to call and cancel if you can't make it....and that people don't do that is why many doctor's offices have started to charge if you don't call and cancel and then no show.