How long did you have to wait for an appt?

Posted by carolinekernahan @carolinekernahan, Jun 5, 2023

I have linked my portal acct with my daughter's account, submitted the new patient questionnaire in the portal today, and mailed them medical records to arrive by tomorrow afternoon. When should I expect a decision about whether or not my daughter will be granted an appt?

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Profile picture for albiback3 @albiback3

I can honestly say that what took 4 months for the doctors in my area to give up took MAYO 3 hours to diagnose. They see 1 million people seeking health care per year. Because they gave me a new hope for life I will wait as long as it takes because there is no better place than MAYO

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I really am glad you had such a positive experience and you found the help you needed.

I agree, their model is the best when it works, but for it to work every team member needs to be on point and really hearing/listening with the patient. It’s just that in my case, it didn’t work as intended. Somehow…they just…misdiagnosed me. Specifically, the evaluation turned on the opinion of one physician who had a very limited perspective about an atypical presentation of a condition he was very familiar with. He didn’t listen to me.

My most recent experience was better, but somehow, I ended up leaving Jacksonville after my initial evaluation without a plan of care because the physician I saw gave me instructions, only for me to find out from his team the next day that what he said was possible wasn’t possible. All my appointments were canceled with little explanation.

I contacted his nurse, the designated contact for patients in this clinic, and she told me she would call me “the next day” to straighten things out. That was April 27th. After leaving one message per week for them, I didn’t hear from her until the first week of June. In the interim, I was given various different pieces of conflicting information. She apologized, agreed it was conflicting, and is trying to make it right. I spoke with her on a Friday, and she said she’d call me on Monday.

But now it’s July, and I’m literally still waiting for that follow up phone call. I’ve sent 2 portal messages and left 2 phone messages.

I understand things take time, and I don’t regret going, and I still hope things work out, but this isn’t the way the program was presented to me when I took the risk and flew across the country to trust them with my care.

That’s what my reference point is when I say my experience wasn’t the experience of the commercials. I actually still feel and felt really sad. I’m still struggling to access the appropriate treatment, the main reason I went to Mayo.

I know it’s not my fault, but it makes me wonder what I did wrong to deserve the experiences that I had vs. the experience that you and others have had.

I am happy for you. I just wish I could also have that experience.

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Hello,

I filled out the "request an appointment" form last week and was contacted by a coordinator on Monday. On Tuesday, I filled out the questionnaire that was sent to me via email to provide more information on my symptoms/concerns. How long does it take to hear back on whether or not your appointment request was accepted? Will they notify me via phone call, email, mail? Trying to be patient and keep my hopes/expectations within reason but it's difficult to not be anxious.

Thank you!
Rylee

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Profile picture for ryleecampbell0630 @ryleecampbell0630

Hello,

I filled out the "request an appointment" form last week and was contacted by a coordinator on Monday. On Tuesday, I filled out the questionnaire that was sent to me via email to provide more information on my symptoms/concerns. How long does it take to hear back on whether or not your appointment request was accepted? Will they notify me via phone call, email, mail? Trying to be patient and keep my hopes/expectations within reason but it's difficult to not be anxious.

Thank you!
Rylee

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@ryleecampbell0630 Hi Rylee. Hello and welcome to Connect. I think you will need to be patient because I think there may be limited time set aside for doctors to review cases. There are all busy seeing patients and usually fully scheduled, and they have to fit reviewing medical records into that scenario. I came to Mayo as a patient by contacting them on the website. I got the callback from a coordinator who set up an account within a day so I could mail in imaging CDs. After that, I heard back in about 5 weeks and was offered an appointment 5 days later because of a cancellation. You could get a notification like that, and need to be ready to travel in a few days. My consult and later surgery was in the spine center. I was told during he initial call, that it could take 3 months to get an appointment for the surgeon I wanted to see. That was my experience. If they deny an appointment, you may get a letter.

Jennifer

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Profile picture for ryleecampbell0630 @ryleecampbell0630

Hello,

I filled out the "request an appointment" form last week and was contacted by a coordinator on Monday. On Tuesday, I filled out the questionnaire that was sent to me via email to provide more information on my symptoms/concerns. How long does it take to hear back on whether or not your appointment request was accepted? Will they notify me via phone call, email, mail? Trying to be patient and keep my hopes/expectations within reason but it's difficult to not be anxious.

Thank you!
Rylee

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Hi @ryleecampbell0630, as you can read from Jennifer's experience and the experiences in this related discussion, the amount of time to hear back can vary from person to person and department to department.

A team of physicians will review your information and any related lab and imaging studies that may have been submitted with your request. This can take a few days up to a few weeks depending on the complexity of the situation.

If you wish, you can follow up with the appointment office some time, may be next week, to inquire on the status of your request. Have you downloaded the Mayo Clinic app?

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My Doctor referred me to Mayo: How long before They answer back?
My Doctor, after 2 years of running test and still no answers to my condition-referred me to the Mayo. My doctor sent my records and I was contacted by Mayo saying they were reviewing my records. I’m wondering how long before they will get back to me.
Thank you

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Profile picture for anonymousq @anonymousq

My Doctor referred me to Mayo: How long before They answer back?
My Doctor, after 2 years of running test and still no answers to my condition-referred me to the Mayo. My doctor sent my records and I was contacted by Mayo saying they were reviewing my records. I’m wondering how long before they will get back to me.
Thank you

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Hi @anonymousq, I can imagine that you are anxious to hear from Mayo Clinic after your doctor submitted a referral. How long it takes to hear back can vary from person to person. I moved your question to this related discussion, where you can read about the experiences of others.

- How long did you have to wait for an appt? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/how-long-does-it-take-to-decide-if-youll-be-granted-an-appt/

As the scheduler mentioned, a team of physicians will review your information and any related lab and imaging studies that may have been submitted with your request. This can take a few days up to a few weeks depending on the complexity of the situation and the department's capacity.

What department was the referral submitted to?

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Profile picture for jmp1514 @jmp1514

I self referred to Mayo - Rochester for my husband, four times over 9 years and he was given appointments each occurrence. I did not use the on line form. I called each time having all the medical information in front of me and I had written out all symptoms, dates, etc, so that I would be prepared. I was able to send reports from scans, procedures, etc.
I don’t know if it’s “easier” to be accepted in one specialty once you have received care at Mayo.

My husband was seen by neurology/neurosurgery, cardiology/electrophysiology, GI/medical oncology/radiation oncology in Rochester, and is now followed in Jacksonville.

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@jmp1514 hi, do you mind if i message you? did you send a detailed report outline along with his medical records?

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There are a lot of variables involved. When I called for a Urology appointment they offered me one the next day. Since we live in Michigan I suggested 4 days later. That was a great turnaround but no doubt quite rare.

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My first appointment was brokered (maybe wrong word) through my ins co. They recommended me for a liver transplant and did pretesting in my home town. Sent the results to Mayo who then agreed for me to come down to AZ so they could test me themselves. It all worked out. Probably case by case but it might help to get local docs or ins co to recommend. Best of luck.

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I self referred on a Monday, received a suggested time to speak with someone from Mayo, had a call later that same week (Thursday) that was like an intake interview, and 6 business days later was offered an appt two weeks out. I agree with one commenter to download the Mayo app so you can at least track when Mayo receives images and other info from your local providers who don’t put things on line which in my case were images from my MRI. This was my experience with initial orthopedics appt in March 2026. The Mayo app is vastly more extensive than what your local doc has on their site so you absolutely want to download it.

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