Amy Dunbar: Tardiness-Hating OB/GYN Now Most Reviled St. Louisan on Facebook

[Sherman A1]

Hey, guess what, Chris Higgins? You are no longer the most reviled St. Louisan on Facebook! Your reign was short, though intense, but the torch has now been passed to Dr. Amy Dunbar, an OB/GYN at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur (aka the Baby Factory), who had the sheer, unmitigated gall to complain to her friends on Facebook about a patient who was three hours late for an appointment. Not just an ordinary checkup, mind you:



Dunbar's friends, many of whom are doctors or RNs, responded sympathetically, albeit crudely, suggesting that the mother-to-be was perhaps hitting up the drive-thru or the bar. It should be noted that the only comment Dunbar made to the thread was to explain that she had not cancelled the appointment because the patient had had a prior stillbirth.

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2013/02/amy_dunbar_facebook_obgyn.php

[pipoman]

1. Even though no names are mentioned, is this a HIPPA issue?

If not, it is at very least unprofessional...I suspect there will be forthcoming tardiness and cancellations..

I wonder how many times patients have to wait on her...if it is rare, she is rare...usually the wait is longer than the visit if one gets to see the doctor at all..

[obamanut2012]

2. I agree with the doctor

She didn't name the patient, and she is right.

I will say, she should have deleted the crude and tacky comments by her FB friends.

[Sherman A1]

3. I think this comes under the heading of

just because we can post things online, doesn't mean we always should do so.

The Doctor may have been right in her feelings, but she certainly handled this poorly, which I believe calls into question her judgement. I would think she will see some affect to her practice and she still may be suspended from the hospital.

[RILib]

15. I can't imagine why she would be suspended

My doctor is sometimes late, and I know it's because she spends enough time with each patient to really take care of them, which can take an unpredictable amount of time. I have no problem with that.

This patient is just well, words fail me. I would bounce her from my practice if I were the doctor.

[TlalocW]

4. I thought the Applebee's cheap pastor was in St. Louis

When did she lose the title?

TlalocW

[kestrel91316]

5. I don't blame her in the least for being peeved at a patient's

chronic lateness. I have certain clients who are never, ever on time, and they are skating on thin ice the longer they do it. I recently required a client to pay a $200 CASH deposit in order to make an APPOINTMENT for her cat's spay because she had failed to show up for the previous THREE spay appointments. Her only excuse was apparently that she had worry-wart-type reservations about getting it done. And I told her that if she no-showed again the $200 was forfeit and we would have to start all over again. Her BF was totally in agreement with my approach, BTW, and the client did finally show up with her big girl pants on.

People who are chronically late or no-shows wreak absolute havoc with medical AND veterinary office schedules. Particularly when one is a solo practitioner. And they cost us a LOT of lost income.

This physician has done nothing wrong. And she didn't use a name so there's nowhere to go with the HIPAA thing, IMHO.

I'm sick to death of the very small minority of people who thrive on creating havoc around themselves so that they can feel important. I swear it's a deliberate head game - some sort of passive-aggressive manipulative behavior with some (and just sheer irresponsible flakiness with the rest).

Grow up, people. I'm not the hired help, and neither is your physician.

[Sherman A1]

6. The difference in your situation an the one in the OP

is the using FB to vent, which turned into a backfired public shaming of the patient.

People, both doctors & patients come in all varieties including the chronic late ones. Your indicated approach was done in a more professional manner and handled without the use of the internet.

[kestrel91316]

7. Oh, I've been known to vent on FB. I don't name names or divulge identifiers.

[Sherman A1]

12. I always keep work related items

off of FB unless they are positive. The worst I will ever post about a work related topic is "interesting". Just don't think work venting on FB or other places is career enhancing. But, we all have our own opinions.

[kestrel91316]

18. Only my actual real world friends can see my FB posts.

As far as my business's FB page, I don't bitch about clients there. I will sometimes bring up the subject of people's misbehavior in the context of a discussion about hospital policy, but never if they are one of my page's "Likers". Of course, those aren't ever the people who need bitching about anyway.

Random phone calls from non-clients who are extremely clueless or rude ARE fair game for humor posts, though.

[RILib]

14. Sherman

I don't see that she named the patient.

It's incredible to me that she hasn't "fired" the patient from her practice. Three hours!

[Sherman A1]

17. To my knowledge she did not name the patient

That said, I still believe it comes under the heading of just because we can post stuff online, doesn't mean we should.

The patient (without good reason and we don't know) was wrong being 3 hours late, no doubt about that.

The doctor should have been professional enough to deal with the patient directly and if that means booting her, that is the doctor's call.

The issue at least as I see it, is the poor judgement by the doctor in using FB as a medium to vent her frustrations.

As to the final outcome, well that is for others to decide.

[dmallind]

9. Are you as keen in reverse? Doctors often sure as fuck aren't. Dentists even worse.

I cannot count the times I have waited ridiculous periods after the appointed times to see both. And no they can't hide behind the heroic-lifesaving-emergency excuse. I'm not talking about critical care here. Some are just dicks who think their specific advanced degree gives them carte blanche to piss on the schedule of my own and keep me waiting for hours because they schedule three patients in the time it takes to deal with one. I have a twenty minute and walk out rule. They can lose the fucking revenue if they think it's more important to pad it than to respect my time as I respect theirs. You have to value a patient's schedule to expect them to value yours. I wonder if Dunbar does.

[mainer]

16. Doctors have to deal with the unexpected.

Sometimes a patient scheduled for 20 minutes shows up with a long list of problems, and the doctor has to take care of those problems ... even if it puts him behind schedule.

If you have a 20-minute walk out rule, then go ahead and walk out. But it sounds like you don't really need to see the doctor if a 20-minute wait is enough for you to storm out in a huff.

Trust me, doctors want to stay on schedule too. When they get behind, do you think they're any happier about leaving the office at 7 PM?

[kestrel91316]

19. The only time I EVER make a client wait is if SOME OTHER CLIENT has shown up late

and I am running behind as a result, or if a genuine emergency has come in that gets precedence.

I bet that's almost always the reason behind doctors' lateness. A HUGE percentage of people in this world either don't own watches or don't care to look at them, from my experience. They think an appointment for 10 AM on Tuesday means they can just mosey in anytime on Tuesday they feel like.

[joeglow3]

8. Good for her

My wife works in an OB/GYN office and sees this shit all the time. It sucks because it throws off their entire schedule and forces her to work late with some regularity. This results in less time with the family and some late scrambling to care for the kids. Screw those selfish assholes who have zero clue (or desire for a clue) as to how their behavior impacts others.

[WinkyDink]

10. REALLY?! I waited for over an hour recently to see a dermatologist!

[randome]

11. I think the torch can remain with Higgins.

[eissa]

13. The pastor was WAY worse than this

I don't see how venting about the chronic tardiness of an unnamed patient is such a big deal. Improper? Maybe. But I find it more egregious that this person's constant tardiness affected not only the doctor and staff in the office, but the patients after her who were also affected.