ladydyver 0 #26 October 1, 2009 Quote Quote Okay, Let me break it down to you like this....No office will run on time but it should be pretty damn close to it if there are no walkins(office is appt only) I know what it is like to work a 12hr shift 8-8 and actually leave at 12am-1am because the front office staff did not turn away patients. When you take on more patients than what you can see in an hour then you have an issues.The front office/back office staff is supposed to be informing patients on approx time they will be waiting and continuing to check on those patients in the rooms. This is how you make the patients happy even when they have to wait. Communication. I have worked in very busy family practices/urgent cares for the better part of 9-10yrs. If the staff is not communicating with the providers and vice versa you run into your 12hr shifts being 15+hrs. The front receptionist must know and consult with the mgr/doctor about cutting off patients(not accepting new walkins). It is all about keeping the providers on a schedule and having the office run smoothly. In my opinion the providers on busy days have it easy because it is the front /back office staff that works their asses off with diagnostic test/pissy patients/cleaning up/setting up/stat referrals/and transfers. All the doctors/providers do are see the patients sign off of items and we do all the hard work...Okay, let me have it now... Most of it, you're right. But that still doesn't mean that we can keep every single patient to the minute. Shit happens. If the front office is still accepting patients when we are slammed and overbooked, then they'll hear it from me first. exactly..in all instances stuff comes up...can't always be on time because of the "by the way doc, not only do i have this and that there is this other thing." here is a good example...patient was scheduled for a 15 min follow up regarding diabetes care -all of a sudden that patient has been dx with tuberculosis. talk about throwing a monkey wrench in your day - you do what you do best....take it in stride and handle every thing as efficiently as you can.DPH # 2 "I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~ I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kbordson 8 #27 October 1, 2009 OK. My perspective. With the clinic schedule that I had, I was CONSTANTLY trying to keep it "civil" (meaning no double booking new patients and appropriate time for appropriate types of appointments) BUT... someone calls and gives a sad story to the front office or someone needs a work in. OR ... I get called off to a delivery or to the ER or ... (I'm hoping that my new clinic will be even better at keeping that appointment booking) And as noted above the patients themselves throw the schedule off. Do you think that I can do a "well woman" appointment with a 15 year old that has never had a pap in the same time frame that it would take a 32 year old? And that's not predicable either. Sometimes the younger ones deal well with the speculum and the older ones have past issues that need to be discussed.... what about the 24 year old that hasn't yet shared with anyone about the rape last month or last year? Or the woman needing a lot of teaching about her STI issues. Most of the times, things go smoothly... but when patients take the attitude that he or she is the only one that is important... that's when a conflict begins. The doctor is NOT doing this to intentionally make you sit and wait and get madder and madder... rather he/she is just helping that "other" patient right now. There is A LOT more to medicine than just "cough" and write a rx for some antibiotic (or at least there should be a lot more) It's the doctors job to teach you about what is wrong and how to fix things.... for some, that takes a little longer. And... even WE wait. I waited over 45min for my scheduled orthopedic appointment last year (He's a really good ortho and I trust him). I waited over 8 hours in the ER at ZHills (yes, I had a trimalleolar fx but there was no blood splurting out). I don't expect to bump the line and just make all of "you" wait. I know how the system works and if someone needs the attention more urgently... I wait. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #28 October 1, 2009 Never schedule on a Monday if you can help it. Always great to schedule the first apt. after lunch by my estimation... Also, call before and ask if they are behind. I am ROYALLY impatient and cannot stand what you are describing. I switched doctors recently and could not be more pleased. Not only is the waiting area MUCH more comfortable and upscale, but my doctor seems more knowledgable and efficient.Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DavidB 0 #29 October 1, 2009 No one has yet to mention the doctor being interrupted 3 or 4 times a day with drug reps, or is it just when ever I have an appointment there are 2 or 3 there? Hell, my last appointment I was sitting in the waiting room with no other patients & 2 drug reps when yet another walks in as one more was coming out of the back!When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kbordson 8 #30 October 1, 2009 QuoteNo one has yet to mention the doctor being interrupted 3 or 4 times a day with drug reps, or is it just when ever I have an appointment there are 2 or 3 there? Hell, my last appointment I was sitting in the waiting room with no other patients & 2 drug reps when yet another walks in as one more was coming out of the back! We actually didn't have a lot of drug reps. Medicaid didn't cover a lot of those meds so why stop by and drop off free samples? (now... we did have some. I do want to thank the Depo Lupron guys - that is an expensive med if the woman with endometriosis had to pay entirely out of pocket... having some samples for her was very nice) But they just mainly wanted a signature and were out the door. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
d_squared431 0 #31 October 1, 2009 I make the reps wait until I or the physician have time to see them or they are told to come back by the receptionist. Reps are not to be treated with any priority at all, patients come first. We book patients every 15 minutes and the doc is very good with time management. Our office has the patients arrive 10 to 15 minutes prior and they are normally in and out within 20 minutes. We do have a few patients that we know take longer so we adjust our schedule with those patients. I think the longest any patient has ever waited to be seen was 10 minutes past their appt time. The only time we over book is when we have a new patient establishing. They have a 30 minute slot and usually by the time they finish their paperwork we can have another patient processed and ready to go. We also have a strict policy that if you no show or cancel less than 24hrs you are charged 25 dollars. We do call our patients 2 times, 1 week prior and then 2 days prior. We rarely have no shows because of that. By the way I work in Internal medicine and the doctor hates doing procedures. We do not do any long lengthy visits. That is why this office I am in runs so smoothly. We only see 18 and over with 90% of our patients are over 50. Like I have said before this is the easiest office I have ever worked in and I get bored a lot... TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1 I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beerlight 0 #32 October 2, 2009 I must've found the best ever, cause my doctor's office has never (granted I only see her a couple x per year), been late..even a minute. Now when I was in the military......different story! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ladydyver 0 #33 October 2, 2009 QuoteNo one has yet to mention the doctor being interrupted 3 or 4 times a day with drug reps, or is it just when ever I have an appointment there are 2 or 3 there? Hell, my last appointment I was sitting in the waiting room with no other patients & 2 drug reps when yet another walks in as one more was coming out of the back! at least in our area that has stopped for the most part - most offices are recognizing the disruption for patient flow - however, those drug reps also bring samples of medications that are handed out to patient's who can't afford them.DPH # 2 "I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~ I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peregrinerose 0 #34 October 2, 2009 The orthopedic doc that did my wrist surgery had a sign in his office. It said something like: We give every patient all the time they need. Sometimes, that puts us behind. Someday, that patient may be you. I hate being behind for patients, but 100% of the reason I'm behind isn't laziness or anything else. It's because of one of two factors: First, I give every patient the time required to answer every single one of their questions, and explain their eye conditions to them. Sometimes I have a patient with a LOT of problems or questions, it puts me temporarily behind. Second... if a patient calls in, concerned enough about an eye problem that they want to be seen that day, I see them that day. Sometimes worming patients in like that shifts the whole schedule behind. If I'm more than 15 mins behind, I personally apologize to the patients that are waiting and let them know how long I'll be. That 30 seconds almost always keeps the peace and buys be another 20 minutes on the rare event I need it. If I'm the one waiting on the doc... if it's my family doc, I'll wait all day if necessary as I know he has the same patient care philosophy that I do. He's worth the wait. If it's a doc I don't know and it's non urgent, I'll ask the staff how long he'll be. Sometimes I reschedule, sometimes I wait, depends on their demeanor and my own schedule. Once, I switched doctors because of poor staff explaination of wait time. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
d_squared431 0 #35 October 2, 2009 I understand everything you are saying. There is a point that the staff and or the doctor need to communicate with the patients waiting and that is my biggest complaint. Unlike many people I have to take time off work to take my child to the doctors and or myself. I don’t get paid to wait and if I make an appt I expect to be seen with in 15 minutes of that time. I am a single parent and time is money. I planed for 2.5 hours and it turned into 4hrs by the time I made it to my work. I had patients coming to the office I work at a certain time and I was unable to there at the time I told them to arrive. So think of it this way, by taking more time with each patient to answer each and every question, you have now done an injustice to the other patients who now have no income for that day they spent sitting in your waiting room. Not a problem for Mr. or Mrs. yappy who are retired or Mr. or Mrs. don’t have to worry about missing a few hours of work because they make 100 thou a yr. For the average person like myself and a few others 2-4hrs missed is a tank of gas, groceries, and or 1 monthly bill. I am very adamant about how the office/s I work in run. I am also a strong believer that if the provider wants to squeeze in extra patients then do on their time and not the time that others have set aside to come to the doctor’s office.TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1 I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
