Cell phones in the exam room/dispensary

**Joann Raytar** · 08-22-2003, 09:11 PM

I just finished printing up signs that read "Kindly Turn Off Cell Phones" that will be posted in the dispensary and by the exam room. We have had it.

Two days ago the Doctor is a few minutes into an exam when his patient gets a call on their cell phone. The patient took the call and struck up a conversation with the caller. The Doctor felt uncomfortable and left the exam room. He stuck his head in the door a few moments later and the patient is still on the phone. Ten minutes later the Doctor finally entered the room and motioned towards his watch. The patient finally ended the call. Meanwhile, the schedule is now backed up, the Doctor feels a bit uncomfortable throughout the remainder of the exam and the waiting patients are now getting edgy.

Personally, I think the Doc was too nice. I would have handed the person a note a few letting them know that if the call did not end the exam was concluded and we would be glad to reschedule at a later date.

This was just an extreme. We often have folks make and receive calls while we are fitting or trying to adjust their glasses. How can anyone be so rude as to tie up an exam room for a social phone call?

Has anyone else decided to take official measures regarding the use of cell phones during service?

**Diane** · 08-22-2003, 09:19 PM

Jo,

I'm seeing more and more places of business and medical practices, having signs indicating to turn off cell phones while there. It is rude, and for the most part not necessary. A whole new group of rules for etiquitte need to be put in place with the new technology.

I think a sign is appropriate, although it shouldn't even be necessary, if everyone would just be polite on their own.

Diane

**chip anderson** · 08-22-2003, 09:29 PM

What this county needs is a new silent hand gesture, telling people exactly where the cell phone should be placed.

Chip

**paw** · 08-22-2003, 10:21 PM

Jo, that patient was extremely rude and the doc was indeed too nice. IMHO he should not have left the room. That turned the balance of power over to the patient.

We have not posted official signs regarding cell phone use (haven't had to) but I think your putting up a sign is fine.

**Susan Henault** · 08-22-2003, 10:35 PM

I am starting to see more and more of my customers posting signage regarding the use of cellular phones in their offices. I agree with everyone else on this. As a sales professional, I use my cellular phone many, many times throughout the day. But NEVER, and I mean NEVER do I use my cellular phone while in a customer's office. If I take my phone in at all, it is either off or on silent. If my phone rings while I am in any public place, such as a restaurant, grocery store or the like, I quickly turn it off, I don't answer it. Strange world this is becoming ...

**edKENdance** · 08-23-2003, 07:17 PM

I have a slightly differing point of view. If this Doc is anything like ours then his patients are often kept waiting for one or more hours for their appointments. If I were in that situation I might feel some sense of justice making the dr wait for me.
Turn about is fair play but of course I'm speaking about our dr.

**Joann Raytar** · 08-23-2003, 07:46 PM

No, he's not that bad; he is actually pretty good with time considering he does his own prescreening tests. Of course, there are moments when his running on schedule is more thanks to us than himself.

If he gets another golf fanatic in the room, he sometimes needs helpful hints to let him know he is going to run too far behind.

**PAkev** · 08-24-2003, 08:31 PM

Funny this came up,

I was just talking to my wife about this issue over the weekend. It never fails that once I get into presenting premium options, my office phone begins ringing.

Voice mail and caller ID are certainly acceptable alternatives to now return calls that otherwise would have been unanswered two or three years ago.
Since I mostly operate as a "one man band" the environment in my office may be a little different but we came to the conclusion that EXAMPLE is best. When a patient is sitting across from me at the fitting table and hears my phone ring through they know they are getting 100% of my attention and most feel obligated to do the same for if/or their cell phone should ring.

If folks were making appointments for our services we would have a much better measure of valuing our time. However since the services of most places has become construed as "retail" instead of professional, many folks don't feel any deep obligation to respect our time management concerns.

I could only imagine the chuckle some dentists get as folks try to answer their phone after a shot of novicaine and a suction hose stuffed in their mouth.

Kevin

**chip anderson** · 08-24-2003, 08:39 PM

I hate to play devils advocate on this as I hate to wait for some woman to arrange her social and family affairs while in my examination room but,:

We can't expect people to have respect for our time if we over book appointments and leave people for hours beyond their "appointed" time in the waiting room with magazines.

Chip

**Joann Raytar** · 08-24-2003, 09:02 PM

chip anderson said:

We can't expect people to have respect for our time if we over book appointments and leave people for hours beyond their "appointed" time in the waiting room with magazines.

Chip

Well said. The only place I would settle for waiting that long would be a hospital. I would never sit for an hour or more waiting for a routine exam.

**paw** · 08-24-2003, 09:34 PM

I don't know how you guys even stay in business if you have people waiting an hour even once in a while. In our office, the doctor is very strict about staying on schedule. We know that people have other eyecare options and our seeing patients at their appointed time is one more reason for them to choose us.

I remember (years ago) waiting so long for my morning appointment with an MD that I had to use the secretary's phone to reschedule my afternoon appt with a different doctor. I can't believe I ever did that. If that were to happen today, I would leave the morning appt after half an hour wait. That's all I will give them. And to the credit of MDs I've seen in the last several years, I don't think I've had to wait even that long.

**Jana Lewis** · 08-25-2003, 09:41 AM

We have a sign posted that states to please turn off all cell phones, pagers and pda's before proceeding for service... it has worked well! :p

**aaron** · 08-25-2003, 11:16 AM

We posted a sign quite a while back. It hasn't worked very well however. Then we posted one in each exam room. That also hasn't worked. The signs might as well be part of the scenery in our office. I am thinking about going to neon!

Many of our patients just feel as though the rule does not apply to them. Meaning their need to speak on the cel supeceads all other worldly commands. People with tons of money always think that they are above rules that are supposed to apply to everyone. CRAZY!

Then again, our average time total for a complete exam is going at about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. So I can understand when the doctor breaks the rules of courtesy, why the patient would just do the same.

ad

**Joann Raytar** · 08-25-2003, 04:55 PM

This is a large version of the sign I decided to go with. Folks used to seeing No Smoking Signs should get the idea they are not supposed to do something.

If anyone would like a copy "Right-Click" and chose "Save Picture As ..."

**Stopper** · 08-26-2003, 10:52 PM

Cell phones don't really bother me that much. This is how I handle the situation. If I'm not in the room, I don't care if they are using the phone. If I walk in and they are using it. I give them a chance to end the call quickly. If they do not, I simple say " I'll be back" and excuse myself and go to the next exam room and they move to the end of the line. I use three exam lanes so they end up waiting abit. Then I come back. If they are done talking we start the exam. If they are still on the phone, back to the end of the line. Most people are off the phone in 20 seconds so I don't need to do this often. It doesn't slow me down and now the other patients are done faster so they are happy. If the phone rings in the exam room and they have a need to answer it, I excuse myself and they go to the end of the line.

It's not that I think my time is any more valuable than theirs, but that just makes the other patients wait longer and that is not fair.

Don't sweat the small stuff.
Life is too short to drink cheap beer:cheers:

**LanceM** · 05-30-2006, 12:19 PM

I once had a woman answer her phone three times during an exam, then after the third time she asked me "how much longer is this going to take?" I told her, "we'd be done by know if you'd quit answering your phone."

Our office has signs all over the place and it makes no difference. One woman talked on her cell phone with a sign directly in front of her face.

Now when the phone rings during an exam, I say "do you have to get that or can it go to voice mail." Most people will let it go to voice mail. There are times when the patient must answer the phone, but I stay in the room (since we only have one exam lane). If they start to get chatty, I'll say, "shall we continue" and just look at them until they hang up.

We had a tech ask a patient to please turn off her phone and it turns out that she was waiting to hear about her son in the hospital and it turned into a big situation.

**chm2023** · 05-30-2006, 12:52 PM

Cells phones are the curse of modern life. I agree that patients should have the courtesy to turn off cells in the exam room and dispensary--same for the doctor and dispenser though!!!

**Andrew Weiss** · 05-30-2006, 12:58 PM

We have signs up asking people to use their cellphones outside the office. I haven't heard of a patient answering a call while in an exam, but it has happened in the reception area and dispensary occasionally. Most people are respectful and will take their phones outside to use them (it helps that cellphone reception in our building is pretty bad ;))

I don't think rigid rules work here. For example, we have parents who are trying to keep track of their kids and want to know where they are and when; those calls are usually short.

**RGC_man** · 05-30-2006, 02:20 PM

Isn't there a gadget you can get that blocks all calls in a local area?

The worst example I have seen is someone answering and conducting a call in the cinema.

**LanceM** · 05-30-2006, 02:31 PM

Cell phone blockers exist, but are illegal by FCC regulations.

**lab fly** · 05-30-2006, 05:05 PM

My old partner and O.D. would take personal phone and cell calls right in the middle of an exam. Other times he would be nice enough to go outside on beautiful days and talk right in front of patients who were waiting on him for an appointment. Oh did I mention the huge picture window the patients look through and see their O.D. talking. I agree some O.D.'s deserve to be put on hold but not at others expense. Gotta go my phone is ringing

**eyegirl** · 05-30-2006, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by paw

I don't know how you guys even stay in business if you have people waiting an hour even once in a while. In our office, the doctor is very strict about staying on schedule. We know that people have other eyecare options and our seeing patients at their appointed time is one more reason for them to choose us.

The craziness at our office is that we have people that will wait 2 to 3 hours to be seen. It's so hard to predict the schedule, because we get all the ER calls for any kids, even we we are NOT on call. The other thing is you can never predict how cooperative a kid will be, it may take me 20 minutes just to get their eye drops in!

But when cell phone conversations are held during an exam, the doctor will get up and walk out, and go to the next room.
Sometimes our signs work, and sometimes they don't!

We are still fully booked with a long waiting list of people trying to get appointments!

**Cindy K** · 06-02-2006, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by Jo

This is a large version of the sign I decided to go with. Folks used to seeing No Smoking Signs should get the idea they are not supposed to do something.

If anyone would like a copy "Right-Click" and chose "Save Picture As ..."

The day this thread resurfaced I ran off a copy of this sign. Not really planning to display it, I showed it to my co-worker and made a joke that the next inconsiderate client we have will have this waved in front of their face (the subject of cel phone use in the dispensary has been a hot topic in our office lately)

Not an hour later, he's about to do a sight test with a longtime client when her phone rings. I'm hearing this out in the dispensary and chuckling to myself the what-ifs about that sign I just copied.

A few minutes later, out of the room he walks, asks where that sign is, grabs it, and I'm assuming holds it up in a prominent position for her to see. End of call. Sight test performed, glasses ordered.

Thanx, Jo!

**Lynne** · 06-14-2006, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by Jo

This is a large version of the sign I decided to go with. Folks used to seeing No Smoking Signs should get the idea they are not supposed to do something.

If anyone would like a copy "Right-Click" and chose "Save Picture As ..."

Our other clinic has a sign with "No Cell Zone" on it, with a picture of a cell-phone in a circle with a line through it. This clinic has no problem, as can't pick up a signal too well!:)