Dr. K. Nguyen may be a knowledgeable neurologist; however, my experience with his office staff,…read morescheduling practices, and overall patient care environment was extremely disappointing. The lack of professionalism, communication, and respect for patients' time significantly undermines confidence in the practice.
Today, my 90-year-old mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, had a scheduled 9:00 a.m. appointment. We arrived at approximately 8:50 a.m., checked in on time, and waited.
At 9:30 a.m., after receiving no update, I approached the front desk and asked how much longer we should expect to wait. I was told that Dr. Nguyen had four patients ahead of us. Given that our appointment was scheduled for 9:00 a.m., I was understandably confused. The staff member simply stated that he would be with us shortly.
At approximately 9:40 a.m., we were called back and taken to Room 5. While waiting, I noticed political memorabilia displayed in the patient-care area that I found inappropriate for a professional medical environment. Having worked in corporate America and higher education for more than 30 years, I believe patients should be able to receive medical care in an environment that remains professional and welcoming regardless of their personal or political beliefs.
By 10:30 a.m.--an hour and a half after my mother's scheduled appointment--we still had not seen Dr. Nguyen or received a meaningful update. I left the examination room and asked to reschedule. Rather than expressing concern or apologizing for the delay, a staff member again told me that four people were ahead of us and that we needed to wait.
I explained that our time should be respected just as we respected the physician's time by arriving before our scheduled appointment. The staff member threw her hands in the air and directed me to speak with someone at the front desk.
What was particularly troubling was the apparent lack of concern for the circumstances. I explained that I was accompanying a documented 90-year-old Alzheimer's patient. Anyone who cares for an elderly person with dementia understands that getting that individual prepared, transported, and to a medical appointment on time can require considerable planning and effort.
I was then told that Dr. Nguyen "always runs late" because he goes to the hospital before coming to the office. If the practice knows that the physician routinely cannot begin seeing patients at the scheduled time, then appointment times should reflect his actual availability. Patients--particularly elderly and medically vulnerable patients--should not routinely be scheduled for appointments at times when the physician is not reasonably expected to be available.
Even more concerning was the staff's attitude that this was simply normal and that patients should accept it. There was no apology, no proactive communication, and no apparent recognition that expecting a 90-year-old Alzheimer's patient to wait indefinitely is unreasonable.
If the office knew the physician was significantly behind schedule, a simple phone call or text would have allowed us to adjust our arrival time. Instead, we arrived early, waited approximately 90 minutes, and ultimately left without seeing the physician.
I am also requesting confirmation that neither my mother's insurance nor my mother will be billed for a physician visit that did not occur.
Medical offices cannot always control emergencies or unexpected delays. However, they can control how they communicate with patients and how they treat them when delays occur. Courtesy, transparency, empathy, and respect for patients' time should be basic expectations--especially in a neurology practice serving elderly and cognitively impaired patients.
Unfortunately, our experience demonstrated none of those qualities. What could have been handled with basic communication and compassion instead became an unnecessarily frustrating and disrespectful experience. All for a 15min appointment that never happened!
