Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Doctor Will See You Now, Finally!

Yesterday I went for my annual eye exam.  It's one of my least favorite appointments.  Why? Because my introverted personal space is seriously impinged upon. I'm referring to that brief minute or two when the doctor leans in with her pen light and our faces practically become one.  I grasp on for dear life and hold my breath until it's over.
By the way, I also hate those eye drops!
Anyway, on the way home after my visit,  I thought about how many people I had come into contact with during my visit.
First, the woman at the desk.  The one you who signs you in. The Greeter.  The insurance card checker.  The one who tells you to take a seat because, "It will be a few minutes."
Person number two was the young woman who came out into the waiting room with my records folder in her hand.
I'm not sure what her title is.  She took me into a room, asked me a few questions, had me read an eye chart, which I looked at through a machine.  Then she took measurements of my eyes.  At least that's what she told me she was doing.  After we were finished she brought me into another room and told me that "Someone will be with you shortly."
After "shortly" the third person came into the room.  He was an eye doctor.  Anyway, he introduced himself as Dr. SoandSo.   He also had me read an eye chart through a machine.  "Is it better with one or two?"  Yeah, that guy.  He was the first one of the blue-pen-light-carrying-personal-space invaders.  And an eye drop administrator.  Once his portion of the exam was completed, he wrote my prescription.  My vision hadn't changed, "But, just in case you want new frames," he said.
Then, after waiting 30 minutes for my eyes to dilate, I saw my eye doctor.   She's the one I actually had my appointment to see.  The woman whose name is on the door.
She is the other personal space invader.  She determined that I needed an additional test, which required more eye drops and more close up and personal attention, and another attendant, the eye photographer.  Another fancy machine that I had to stare into and not blink.  "Don't blink!  Don't blink!"
So, the eye photographer became the fifth person I had contact with.
No, not done yet.
On the way out, I met with the person who scheduled my next appointment, which will be one year from now.
So, in case you haven't been keeping track, by the time I left that office, I had interacted in one way or another, with six people.
I wondered about this.  I wondered what effect the employment of these six people might have on the cost of my visit.
The most important question, though, is "Should I go for the over-size red frames







or the sparkly cat eye ones?"


Of course, that will entail interactions with at least one or two more people.

 

10 comments:

  1. My college eye doctor ran the place herself. Today there are an army of people at my current place, and they screwed up my prescription.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder how many staff members you had to speak to in order to remedy your prescription?

      Delete
  2. It is kind of neat that they are employing so many. The thing is, did you have a lot of waiting time or did they keep you busy moving from person to person? Maybe that's their strategy.

    betty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure what their strategy is. My impression is, though, the doctor doesn't want to be bothered with all of the other "menial" tasks. Or to put it in a more positive light, her skill set is more advanced. I don't know. The time I spent at there was not any less and actually, perhaps even more, than if I had only seen one person.

      Delete
  3. My eye doctor's office consists of three people, one of which I've never seen: the lovely woman at the desk, my eye doctor, and another eye doctor (the one I've never seen). My dentist's office is much the same: lady at the desk, dental hygienist, dentist. Makes life easier.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm partial to the cat eye ones.

    My optometrist doesn't make me do the eye drops. Or at least he didn't. I'm in the market for a new optometrist (long story).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I kind of like the cat eye ones too. My Dr. is an Ophthalmologist. The eye drops are used to dilate the eye so the doc can check for eye disease, such as cataracts, glaucoma, etc.

      Delete
  5. I see four people: the greeter, the person with the file that does some tests, the doctor, then the checkout lady. If I want need need contacts or frames that's another person. I never really thought about this before. I don't like the invasion of my personal space either!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never thought about it before either, until that day. It's the same thing that happens when a patient is in the hospital. There is a parade of doctors in and out of your room.

      Delete