When you have a healthcare need, you want to see your doctor quickly and with ease. We have the answers to why you may have to wait before seeing your doctor.

Q: Why do I have to wait at the doctor’s office?

A: Doctors and other providers face a tight schedule of appointments each day, but they also want to spend enough time with each patient to provide high-quality care. One patient may have an unexpectedly complicated case, demanding more time. And once appointments start to run behind, it’s very difficult to bring them back on schedule.

Q: Why do people who arrive after me in the doctor’s office sometimes get called first?

A: Clinics often have more than one doctor, and if a patient who arrived later is called into the exam room first, it may be because that patient is seeing a different doctor. Even in a clinic with only one doctor, a patient who arrived later may be seen earlier because they are receiving a service from a staff member other than the doctor. This doesn’t mean that the doctor is favoring one patient or another, nor does it mean that any one patient has been forgotten.