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Case- Keep Patients Waiting Not in My Office

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| CASE: KEEP PATIENTS WAITING? NOT IN MY OFFICE | BUSN 6110/ME – OPERATIONS & PROJECT MANAGEMENT | | |

CASE

KEEP PATIENTS WAITING? NOT IN MY OFFICE
1. What features of the appointment scheduling system were crucial in capturing “many grateful patients”? By seeing patients at their “exact” appointment times, the patients were very grateful. It is rare that the doctor did not see the patients during their allotted time. The key to ensuring appointments remained on schedule was to book appointment realistically. By allotting the proper amount of time for each visit (this was tied to the services require) this kept the schedule on track. Patients are also given a specific time, e.g., 10:30 or 2:40 vice the usual come in 10 minutes or 30 minutes. There was an adequate number of examining rooms and her 2-3 assistants depending on the workload were well instructed on the standing operating procedures. New patients were asked to arrive in the office early to get their initial paperwork completed. New patients were also told about the strict adherence to appointment times.
2. What procedures were followed to keep the appointment system flexible enough to accommodate the emergency cases, and yet be able to keep up with the other patients’ appointments? The doctor felt that most doctors used them having an emergency as an excuse not to stick to their appointment times and felt this would not work in her practice. If it was a true emergency, like broken arm or emergency Caesarean section she would drop everything else; however, if the interruption was brief, he would try to get back on schedule and give the patients the choice of waiting or rescheduling. Also, the doctor gives his assistants standing orders to keep a number of slots open throughout each day for patients with acute illnesses he also uses this time for the

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