Do you feel like your practice is constantly behind schedule? Are patients constantly waiting beyond their appointment slots to begin the exam? Do you feel like you are constantly racing through your exams to hurry to the next patient, but you’re still behind?
There are a few common reasons for schedule inefficiency. One of the most common reasons is your schedule is overbooked. You have to plan for emergencies, and for patients who just take a lot longer. Medicare patients move slower and can have a hard time with the equipment and getting into the slit lamp. It is wise to create appointment slots just for medicare patients. It is also wise to keep a 15 minute break where you could potentially put an emergency appointment or to allow you and your staff to catch up on busy days. These breaks are effective mid morning, and mid afternoon. Make sure you are allowing for time for pretesting and exams for each different appointment type. Do not expect a contact lens check to take the same amount of time as a new patient with glaucoma. Don’t be afraid to change up your schedule templates and see what really works for you!
Another problem with your schedule could be that you’re understaffed. Do you expect to see 15-20 patients in the morning with only one work-up technician? Do you scribe on your own exams? Adding a scribe to your staff could be really beneficial to you with patient flow. It’s nice to have a second set of hands in the room with you as well. Adding another technician, even part time, for peak hours in the office could help cut back on wait times too.
Another big problem with private practices is that the lines between professional providing a service and “family doctor” become really blurred. A lot of patients take your generosity and compassion for granted, and will take advantage of you. You have to stop allowing your patients to show up anytime they want. If a patient shows up 20 minutes late, that not only sets your staff behind, but the next patients who actually respected you enough to show up at their scheduled appointment times.
There are a few tricks I used when managing a schedule that helped patients remember to arrive promptly for their appointments:
REMINDER CALLS. Call the patients to remind them of their appointments a day in advance. Remind the patients they can do paperwork online, and what documents they should bring to their appointment. (Driver’s license, insurance cards, referrals, etc.)
Post a sign that patrons who show up 10 minutes late or more may be asked to reschedule.
Tell patients at the time of scheduling that there is a cancellation and no-show fee. Charge $15 to cancel within 24 hours of an appointment (obviously you can use your discretion with enforcing this) and that there is a $25 fee to no-show.
Flag patients who no show and reschedule frequently. You can also tell these patients that they can be seen on a walk-in basis only and be worked into the schedule when they arrive. This means these patients will have a higher wait time than those on the schedule, but if they no show frequently then they cannot be trusted to reserve an appointment slot specifically for them.
Sometimes patients (especially long standing patients who are not used to new policies you enforce) can be really argumentative and resistance. Just be firm. Remind your patients that your mission is to provide wonderful care to everyone on your schedule, and you simply cannot do that if everyone shows up whenever they please and has no regard for your time.
Sol Operation Solutions is here to help you get your practice up to par. Send an #SOS if you need help creating a system that will make this easy for your staff to implement we are happy to help and support you. Let today be the start of something new. Remember change is necessary for growth.
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