Staffing

As of the writing of this post, there is a widespread understanding that, across many industries in the U.S., there is a labor shortage. Everyone needs more help! Sometimes it doesn’t seem apparent, but an ophthalmology office is also subject to these same factors, since we have staff who answer the phones and staff that do the initial stages of the work for the doctors to see patients. So, when we are short staffed, our wait times get longer. Ophthalmology wait times tend to be pretty long to begin with, since there is often testing with various machines as well as a delay to allow time for dilation of the pupils. Adding to those long wait times is, of course, not a recipe for happy patients, happy staff, or happy doctors. In the end, most of the “blame” seemingly gets ascribed to the doctors, and some of these factors are not in the doctors’ control. In any case, from a patient perspective, it may be helpful to realize that there may be staff shortages and other issues that complicate a visit to the doctor, just as it impacts other areas of life.