Appointment System
October 28, 2009104 views
US Chiropractic Directory
"Preferred Listing Consulting"
From the Desk of Mark Studin DC, FASBE(C), DAAPM, DAAMLP
“Appointment System”
Objective: To systematically write all appointments in the appointment so that the doctor and staff can track all new and existing patients. This will give the entire staff the knowledge on a daily basis to able to take the appropriate action and ensure all scheduling per the doctor is accomplished.
Procedure: If this is done via computer, then follow the computer’s scheduling system. This system is for paper appointment books. An appointment book with a minimum of 4 columns per 20 minutes per provider is needed.
Appointment Book Columns
Columns
Columns 1-2 = Treatment
Column 3 = New Patient
Column 4 = Testing
Time allotted per column
Treatment should be no more then 20 minutes, with 2 patients per 20 minutes. New patients should not be more the 30 minutes and testing is dependant upon the test. Remember, these are guidelines dependant upon what is being done therefore not written in stone. If you do not do modalities, then you can treat a patient every 5-15 minutes. If you utilize modalities then you need to allot more time, etc…
Appointment Book Colors
Color of Appointments
Columns 1-2
Pencil - Regular appointments
Purple - Rescheduled via answering machine
Red - Rescheduled appointment with the patent
Blue - Rescheduled with leaving a message with a person other then the patient
Green- Patient reschedules many days after scheduled appointment
Orange - Appointment made with
written recall
Column 3 = New Patients & Re-Evaluations
Red - note name, phone number, who they were referred by and case type.
Purple - FREE CONSULT as above, but patient is from health care presentation.
Pencil- Re-Evaluations
Column 4 = Notes
Pencil - In house testing ordered for the day
Appointment Book Notes
Red - When patient reschedules appointment, cancels etc. note it in the color red next to their name in the appointment book.
Cancel = CN
Reschedule = RS
Left Message = LM
Answering Machine = AM
No Show = NS
All re-schedules are potential problems and a topic for another consultation
Number of Appointments
Prior to the start of the day count the number of appointments and number of new patients and write it down to the left at the appointment book for each shift. (This will aid in keeping stats on number of scheduled appointments versus the number of actual
Appointments kept.)
Prepare Charts
Prior to each shift prepare all new patients charts by having blank charts ready for that new patient’s arrival. Have the paperwork “pre-filled out” with the information acquired on the intake phone call to minimize the amount the new patient spends in your office.
Pull every chart of the existing patients for the day and place them in a holding box, or holding area. In a busy practice, it is not uncommon to have a chart in a “very good place” only to realize when the patient shows up, you can’t figure out where that “real good place” is.
This will anger the patient, no matter how polite they are and you do not want to “scramble” in front of the patient. By pulling all charts prior to the shift you will not only avoid creating a negative emotion for the visit of the patient, your staff will save time during patient hours and now be able to handle more patients to allow your practice to grow.
Patient Phone Calls
Call all new patients, re-evaluations and testing patient appointments the day prior to confirm (Column 3 - 4).
The reason for a testing appointment to be confirmed is that you are putting away special time either by yourself, a staff member or an independent contractor and this will ensure a higher degree of compliance of the patient.
If the appointment was made on the same day,
there is no need to confirm.
Script: “Hello, (PT), I am (CA) from (OFFICE). I am calling to confirm your appointment for (DATE). I look forward to seeing you then.”
Referral Appointments Outside of our Office
All doctor appointments outside of our office need to be dated and input in your chart. The importance of this is two-fold; first it allows you, the doctor to track referrals for your patients and know where you have sent them. Secondly, if the patient has any pathology or risk factors that might be problematic, it documents that you acknowledged the condition and took the appropriate action. This will give you a level of insulation should any patient, lawyer or regulatory agency come looking to see if a referral was made.
By only telling a patient and not documenting the referral is like it was never done. The only thing that exists is what is written down.
Daily Testing
Prior to the day either the doctor or the staff will go to the appointment book column 4 looking for testing. In addition, they will look through each chart for the day to see if “ordered tests” were not put in column 4.
For each test ordered, the staff should take the appropriate forms needed and clip it to the front of the chart. This will communicate to the provider what test has to be done on that day.
In the event that the fee ticket is returned and the test is not done, put the patient back in the room and page a provider to the room.
No patient can leave without the ordered test performed.
In addition, if there are no written orders, a test cannot be done as there is no written clinical necessity., If it is not in writing, it doesn’t exist.