Yes, the office staff should have let you know the doc was running behind. When I get hung up at the hospital before I get to the office I always call my staff and tell them to lets folks know I'm running late and to give them my best guess as to when I'll get there.
But to compare the medical field and trying to keep to a set time schedule (depending on specialty) is impossible. I can't tell you how many times I, as an Internist, have had a patient crashing, have to intubate them and spend another hour with them in the ICU either at morning rounds, or when I have to admit someone to the ICU in the middle of a full schedule. It's a very unpredictable field. When someone hits the ER with an acute illness that requires my immediate attention, the patients on my schedule in the office will have to wait, or reschedule. Most understand this, as I always say, "If it's YOU having the heart attack, don't you want me there doing everything I can for you rather than seeing the person in my office?"
And there are many docs that have a family-like relationship with their patients. Most give me hugs and kisses when they see me. Of course, it’s hard to teach good bedside manner. That’s something your parents teach you, not a med school, no matter how hard they may try.
Maybe it's a Southern thing? ;)
My internist is a great doctor and really explains things well. My only problem is that she is affiliated with a large city hospital that is about 30 miles from me. There is another large hospital about 15 miles closer and more convenient for me. I have seen doctors at both hospitals. I recently asked my doctor if I should try to use doctors that practice at the same hospital in case I have to be admitted. She said it didn't really matter. She wouldn't be seeing me if I was admitted anyway, a Hospitalist would be my physician while I was hospitalized. I had never even heard of a Hospitalist before. What do you think of this practice and are most hospitals doing this?