The medical field is a very busy industry since people seem to always be very sick. There are many different doctors that are in need especially at different times of the year. In this one case, this doctor is all about making sure that his patients are being well taken care of and most importantly being taken care of on time.
Healthcare offices are under a great deal of pressure to reduce costs and improve quality of service. In recent years, healthcare organizations have concentrated on preventive medicine practices and have tried to reduce the length of time that patients stay in their waiting room for services. Outpatient services have gradually become an essential component of healthcare. During this case study it was very vivid to me that the doctor was all about making sure that his patients were never waiting any long periods of time as well as being able to be seen during times of emergencies. Another big problem was the phone being answered and then having to deal with the late comers.
Patient waiting times and waiting-room congestion in outpatient settings are two challenges facing the healthcare industry. Survey results indicate that excessive waiting time is often the major reason for patients’ dissatisfaction with outpatient services. Waiting times of 10-15 minutes are considered reasonable. With is being said, there re certain ways that appointments should be booked in order to make sure that every patient is being seen without having to wait any long periods of times. Some of these ways to make sure that patients are waiting to long are as follows: • Allot proper amount of time for each visit of course this solely depends on the type of visit • Patients must be taught to respect their appointment time • Allow several times for what the patient is being seen for
Another subject that was brought up during this case is the fact the emergency patients must in fact be fitted in some where so that they can be seen as well. In this specific case this doctor must always be available since he also delivers babies much more take care of children who in fact doesn’t understand the fact that they must wait unlike us adults. In this case the doctor gives the patient with present or future appointments an option to either wait or make an appointment for a future date.
The biggest thing with most doctors like that care about their patients is the mere fact that they don’t like waiting so therefore they wouldn’t want their patients to be waiting since after all what this also cause is:
• Lost of business • Lost of patients since most patients don’t like to wait • Bad reputation from existing patients
Some ways to be able to handle not eventually gaining a bad reputation is by always making sure that you keep a professional demeanor through every late appointment by apologizing and explaining what happened so that these patient would understand that you are in high demand for not only their babies but also for those that are coming into the world. Though most people don’t care but just for their own it is only eight to accommodate that patient if so need be during emergency situations.
Knowing eventually that this doctor is a pediatrician it is only fair to make sure that every little patient is being taken care of to the best of the ability. With this being said, another big problem that is presented in this case is the phone since you have people calling in to handle their business or even requesting things for their kids. Because most patients would rather speak to the doctor themselves it is only fair to make sure that the doctor keep sit very short.
A good gesture to handle telephone calls would be to have just one receptionist handle all incoming and outgoing calls and whatever can’t be answered right then and there should be handled at the end of business day. Now there are some things that just can’t wait and must be answered right then and there; then I would make sure to hire a receptionist/ registered nurse who are more than able to answer those types of questions that may need attention right then and there. With this being said, we must keep in mid that there are laws and code of ethics that these doctor offices must abide by not to violate the HIPAA that was signed by each patient at the time of registration.
A big concern that most doctor offices will have is dealing with people who are never on time like me. Most offices handle late comers in many different ways such as:
• Rescheduling the late patient • Making the person pay a late fee • Or giving them a choice of being seen but at a later time or by having them to simply wait Many patients that are late must be made aware that they aren’t the only patients being seen and make it known that their chart will be notated for future references.
Lastly, we must not forget the no show patients which just makes it even harder for them since most offices are pretty busy and are trying to squeeze people in. Those that don’t show up will receive letters letting them know about their missed appointment and to be honest this is the best way to handle most patients. Most patients or any one in particular don’t like paying for services not being rendered so therefore once they receive a letter being threatened then they would eventually show up to their next appointment without any notice at all.
According to our text there are some principles that came to mind such as: • Schedule jobs as a string, with process steps back to back. (pg 641) • Once started, a job should no be interrupted. (pg 641) • Obtain feedback each day on jobs that are not completed at each work center or office.
There were many points but one in particular that really captured my attention which was making sure that every patient is being seen in less than 10 minutes within their appointment time. What this shows and proves is that their office is being run by the right staff and much more importantly the professionalism within the work environment.
When it came to scheduling patients I must say that while reading this case they were very flexible with being able to schedule those that would have an emergency with still making sure that their regular patients are being seen without any interruptions. According to this case, “when appointments were made, every patient is given a specific time, such as 10:30 or 2:40.” (pg 651) In this case is a latecomer was late the way that it would be handled would be by “a receptionist phones his home to arrange a later appointment.
If there’s no answer and the patient arrives at the office a few minutes later, the receptionist says pleasantly, “Hey, we were looking for you. The doctor’s had to go ahead with his other appointments, but we’ll squeeze you in as soon as we can.” (pg 651) With this being said then a note is also placed in the patient’s chart to indicate that they were late for their appointment. This also goes for those that wouldn’t show for their appointment; their no show would be notated in their chart just a late comer will be done.