Not so manly pursuits?

[irwin]

Hey I just remembered, I do have a sewing kit. More than a few buttons have been reattached by me. ....and one time I baked a cake, but that was many years ago. Does it count?

 

[txdon]

I accompany my wife's "Red Hat" group on some of their outings. Chinese Buffet, Cruise, chick flicks, ....and no, they have not given me a red hat ....yet. Some of the guys have commented when I'm the only guy with the Red Hatters in the picture in the local paper but the Red Hats do know how to have fun.

 

[Soundguy]

Granted, the task is nearly impossible because patients want you to be on time and spend lots of time with them, which can make things hard. .

First.. congrats on being an on-time doc. (we the patients? customers? ) thank you.

Now.. I guess I'm opposite of most patients... I really -really- don't like going to the dr. I get that white coat syndrome and my pulse and BP goes up just setting in the waiting room. Once in with the doc I like to take enough time to be thourough.. but I'm not looking to be in there for a second past what is needed... lately I've been making at least 1-2 trips per year for small farm injuries. Last couple trips were quite an experience. PM me if ya want the details..

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Hey I just remembered, I do have a sewing kit. More than a few buttons have been reattached by me. ....and one time I baked a cake, but that was many years ago. Does it count?

Don't feel bad.. more than once I have found myself sewing a button on or fixing a burst seam till my wife can do it correctly.

Soundguy

 

[1bush2hog]

I cook.. ( wife can.. but doesn't.. )... baking mostly. i usually have an order for up to 8 pies every thanksgiving and christmas.

I used to woodcarve but don't have the time for it now... mostly carved birds. that count?

Soundguy

I used to carve also, but don't have the time now either. Used to also enjoy photography, sketching, and painting with watercolors. I still cook from time to time to give my wife a break, although I not near as good a cook as she is.

I also enjoy landscaping and flower gardening. I sew my own buttons, as well as iron my own clothes but do not really enjoy either of those

What about bicycling? Too manly?

 

[hazmat]

My belief is that if I tell a patient to be at my office at a certain time, then that is when I should see him. Failing to do so indicates that I think my time is more important than his. A lot of doctors will agree with this idea but few live by it. This philosophy comes from hours of sitting in other doctors offices when I need care or when I'm with a sick family member...it always made me mad. Granted, the task is nearly impossible because patients want you to be on time and spend lots of time with them, which can make things hard. But with good time management skills and a real respect for other people's time, I make it work most of the time. I will sometimes get as much as 30 minutes behind, but that is not common. My partners are continuously amazed. However, they tend to see more patients and make more money than I do. I'm not complaining, I do not want to see more patients than I currently do. I'm happy with my work pace, it suits me well and I still see more patients than most Family Medicine doctors. So seeing people on time makes me happy and my patients happy.

There are exceptions. Each day one of us is the 'urgent care' doc. We see anyone who thinks they need to be seen urgently on a first come first serve basis. Since patients who need urgent care often require more care (lacerations, broken bones, chest pains, sick elderly folks, etc) the wait times can really get long. We tell patients that ahead of time so I'm typically not apologetic under those circumstances. At worst, someone may wait an hour, rarely two. But the average wait time in the local ER is closer to 5 so most folks don't complain.

As for the guy I was waiting for, he showed up 15 minutes after the end of his appointment time and when I walked in he was talking on his cell phone. When I started to introduce myself he held up his finger for me to hush. I kept talking and made it clear that he couid talk to me or talk to the cell phone. He got flusterd and hung up. You get all kinds in this business.

Well Done George. There are a couple of books you may be interested in "Lean Solutions" and "Lean Thinking" by Womack & Jones. A few examples given of how healthcare can be more lean.

The traditional model for a doctor's office is to maximize the utilization of the most expensive asset (the doctor). So patients are "inventoried" to make sure there are plenty for the doctor to see & generate revenue. It goes beyond just waiting that day, there is also the "backlog" - ie how long did you have to wait to get an appointment. It took me 10 months to get an appointment to see my primary care DR for a physical (yes I'm looking for a new one).

The problem with all this "inventory" aka "WIP" - (work in progress) is that the DR is always behind thus the patients and the support staff are wasting time. Not to mention that the DR has tons of paperwork to do at the end of the day. There was an example of a small group that worked overtime to burn off all their backlog & then scheduled thier appointments with time in between as a buffer or to do any paperwork. The end result - patients could see their doc that day or that week at worst & the apointments were always on time. DR were getting home earlier in the evening because they were caught up on paperwork. They didn't have any decrease in throughput (# patients seen per day). The key is to analyze the demand for your services - "routine" patients - annual check ups or long term treatments are a given. The "emergency" work is the variable.

In the above example - the "emergency" patients were able to schedule an appointment as well - they didn't have to wait in que. For example - I have a sore throat that won't quit - so I call up. The DR will see me at 2pm, I don't have to go & wait.

 

[N80]

What about bicycling? Too manly?

Depends. Mountain biking with bloody knees...way too manly.

Bicycle made for two, bicycle with basket on the front, bicycle with the little 'briing, briiing' bell on the front....not too manly. Pee Wee Herman's bike...time for a pants check!

 

[n8wrl]

Well, I've been holding out to see if anyone else goes first.

What about ballroom dancing? It is not my favorite (not very good) but my wife loves it so...

-Brian

 

[N80]

For example - I have a sore throat that won't quit - so I call up. The DR will see me at 2pm, I don't have to go & wait.

We belong to the largest hospital system in the Charlotte, NC metro area. Our practice is the busiest in the whole system....by far. We are open nights and weekends. I'm one of the least 'productive' partners in my 9 man practice and yet I'm in the 95 percentile system wide. By all accounts we really hoof it. It is a highly stressful environment for docs and staff. But it works. We do not do admissions so that is one less complication we have to deal with. Our overhead is also the lowest in the system (but our building is too small.)

But, in regard to seeing 'urgent' visits on time, we are still pretty good and you can call in with a sore throat and we'll tell you to be there at 2pm to get it checked. But, we also operate a bit like an ER. If someone walks in with a chainsaw injury or heart failure, we see them stat. If they walked in at 2pm right when you came in with the sore throat, well guess who gets seen first? But we make that clear to the aptient with the sore throat at the time they make the appointment.

I'm pretty **** about time and work. I'm rarely at the office late and I NEVER leave paperwork on my desk over night. Of course a complicated patient late in the day will keep me late, but that's different...that's what I'm there for. But, all that requires a lot of diligence and persistence. Most of my partners are not that way. They are more easy going about time and don't mind staying late. Nothing wrong with that, just different approaches. But I will admit, on the night shift there are no scheduled breaks and there are times when 9pm rolls around and I realize I needed to pee at about 4pm and I'm about to pop!

My office is also spotless. The nursing staff all prefer to work with me because I'm organized and efficient.....but they all think I'm nuts....and I'm not arguing!

 

[N80]

Well, I've been holding out to see if anyone else goes first.

What about ballroom dancing? It is not my favorite (not very good) but my wife loves it so...

-Brian

That's a tough one. Pretty waaay out there. You've got guts to admit it....but then, you're dancing close with a woman, having fun and making her happy, all of which surely pays its own dividends. Yep, not too manly....but with definite manly pay off.

But hey, now that Emmit Smith and Jerry Rice have been on Dancing with the Stars, the manly ballroom dancing thing is wide open. Emmit is my hero!