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We're number 1 - when it comes to the time it takes to get a doctor's appointment
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Comments
Yeah, but
...everyone has insurance! Thus we have the best health-care system in the country if not the galaxy. Isn't that how it works?
Geez.
Geez. I don't think I've ever waited longer than a week to see my GP at Harvard Vanguard, and that was bizarrely long. Usually it's a day or two. Maybe I've waited two weeks for an eye checkup, but that's it.
You're lucky
As am I, as another Harvard-Vanguard patient.
But not everybody's lucky enough to be a subscriber.
I've had luck with Harvard
I've had luck with Harvard Vanguard, too. I was trying to switch to a doctor in Newton-Wellesley because I didn't like any of the GPs I had seen at the HV location I was using. At Newton-Wellesley, it was a nightmare even getting a receptionist on the phone, and then they told me about the outrageous wait. I went back to Harvard Vanguard, switched to another location, and found a great GP. They'll see me the same day, they respond to emails, and all in all I feel lucky. I'm glad I went back to HV.
Ditto
Access to primary care at HVMA Kenmore was never a problem, but I switched to Fenway Health for insurance reasons. I'm happy I did. Harvard Vanguard is a healthcare factory, and doc turnover got to be a serious issue for me. At Fenway, I've got the quick access as well as the confidence that my terrific PCP is going to stay my PCP, and that he knows who I am.
Btw, in my experience, physicals are always booked months ahead. When I switched to Fenway Health, I made a quick 15-minute appt with my new primary, just to introduce myself and hand over a recap of my medical history. So by the time my physical came up a few months later, our professional relationship had already been established. If I had tried the same approach at Harvard Vanguard, my primary would have changed in the interim.
Last year I went to switch
Last year I went to switch doctors, and I needed a physical. They told me the soonest they could get me an appointment for a physical was over three months from then. Unbelievable.
same here
Same here switched and it took 3 months to get my first appointment. The doctor had to cancel on me and they had to push my physical back 6 weeks. He's a great guy and a good doctor but I always feel like it's a race to get in and out of there.
Get a new GP
I can see my GP pretty much any week I want, without an appointment; he's got walk-in clinic hours and will usually make sure I get on his slate rather than another doctor's.
He also answers my email, usually same day.
No, I'm not telling you who he is. When I say get a new GP, I don't mean mine.
Wrong!
That's a crappy article. That survey was strictly for wait times for FIRST-TIME patients only, but the article never mentioned that. Because that isn't sensational or scary, is it? Of course there can be long waits for first-time patients. Unless you know how to charm or persuade the receptionist — and we Universal Hub readers should all be smart enough to handle that.