4 Strategies for Hassle-Free Medical Office Scheduling
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2010 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, one billion people visit the doctor each year, and over 55 percent of those occasions are to see a primary care provider. Whether the facility in question is a family doctor’s office or an outpatient testing center, there’s no doubt efficient scheduling makes a huge difference in keeping patients and caregivers satisfied. Keep reading for four suggestions that can make scheduling simple, even if you’re involved in overseeing a facility that welcomes dozens of patients every hour.
Set Guidelines and Expectations
People will always be in need of care, but without using metrics to set realistic expectations about how many patients can be accommodated on a daily basis, the quality of care could suffer because caregivers may be more prone to making mistakes due to haste. Find out the number of patients doctors feel they could realistically see in a given week. Also, ask whether they’d be open to making periodic exceptions to that amount during times of extreme demand, such as during season flu epidemics or times when kids and teens may need to visit the doctor to fulfill school requirements. When you have an idea of how available physicians are to see patients, you’ll know if current demands can be met, or whether it’s time to think about hiring additional staff members.
Group Types of Patients Together
Doctors fill many roles, and many specialize in assisting patients with particular needs. For example, a physician might focus on examining people who have been injured while at work, or perhaps empower patients with chronic illnesses to take better care of themselves by engaging in appropriate home care measures. If you’ve discovered the doctors in your facility gravitate towards caring for patients with particular needs, try to book those individuals together on particular days. Also keep in mind new patients will probably take longer to assess than people who have already been seen at the practice, so it may be useful to have one day per week that’s devoted solely to them.
Insist On a Communication Protocol
Clinical staff members might have a drastically different perspective than non-clinical staff members when it comes to determining which kinds of patients take priority over others. Establish a few questions that appointment setters can ask to quickly triage patients and discover the urgency level of their needs. Also, enforce a communication protocol that all staff members understand and follow. It should be supplemented by feedback from physicians who may have specific insight on how to prioritize patients. Sometimes, doctors know certain individuals have characteristics that make it more necessary than usual for them to be seen in person. One example is that of a person who has been diagnosed with a life-threatening disorder, yet habitually shows an inability to comply with the orders of a doctor.
Alternate Patients of Perceived Difficulty Levels
Because you can’t predict the future with certainty, it can be difficult to say with relative certainty how long a visit with the doctor may last. However, with experience, you can determine things like how a person who just needs her thyroid medication dosage checked will probably take less time to assist than someone who’s struggling with late-stage Alzheimer’s Disease. When possible, alternate easier patients with those that’ll probably be more difficult. That’ll save the sanity of your healthcare providers and should reduce the amount of time people spend in the waiting room too.
There’s no magic formula for keeping things running smoothly on a continual basis in a medical office. However, with help from the ideas above, you can make great progress in making everyone happier and more able to give or get required care.
Brett Harris is a medical blogger. If you’re looking to mix business with a degree in the health industry, check out Harris’ blog, Top 10 best online MBA in healthcare management degree programs.
Category: Business
