I get them too...sometimes it is a human...sometimes it is a robot. Regardless, it is a good thing for me, as I can't seem to keep a hard copy calendar near my phone..it disappears, and calling to figure out what time I really made that appt. six months ago, and lost the card for it....well, that is a lot more nerve wracking.

The reason they do that is the system is usually overbooked, and a full day might mean moving around clerical and nursing staff, and a missed appt. costs the provider money, and not just the doctor who misses the appt, but also the clinic or hospital that may have moved in a pricey per diem nurse...(not that the nurse gets the money, the agency does). Cancellations ahead of time, they can fill, no shows are tough, and believe it or not, the bigger institutions have to get extra staff if every appt. is going to show, because in the scheduled appts, there are also urgent or emergencies stuffed in.

I am not sure if people realize just how bad the nursing crisis is these days...often you are seeing a non-licensed person being called a nurse, and my pet peeve is a physician assistant being called a 'doctor' because they have prescribing rights, when many of them took the same classes I did...(at the same college, no less.)

Physicians are not going into many of the needed areas such as family practice, OB and the higher risk specialties.....Doctors used to 'own' a practice, not anymore, they are employed by a provider, who is often YOUR insurer...who is paying the bill for your attended or missed appointment.

You see a plethora of name tags now with all kinds of 'fluffy' titles on them...you seldom see the old stuff like MD, RN, LPN...you see a lot of 'assistant' or 'tech' titles. The public needs to get more educated about who they are seeing and what these individuals are diagnosing. Some 'tech' titles are good as technology is increasing so rapidly that you need some one who regularly does that procedure, even the more minor ones...but delegation is going down the river so to speak...in other words, more technical stuff is getting delegated to less educated people...After a lifetime career in the health field I can testify to that fact.

Again, most medical professionals are good. Many are overworked and underpaid, and some of them have neuropathy....and yes, after 8 to 12 hours on their feet, they hurt too. So if a robot makes phone calls, eh, there could be worse delegation...