Open hours scheduling is a “scheduling system in which patients are normally seen on a first-come, first-served basis”, with no appointment necessary.

What are some issues that might arise from using an open hours method of scheduling in a medical office?

Some disadvantages of open hours would be:
1. Effective time management is almost impossible, especially if you get a rush of people in your office when your about to close for the day, then you will have to stay open longer to accommodate them.
2. The facilities may get overloaded with a rush of people at one time, and remain empty at other times.
3. Patients can come in to be seen early, but when someone else comes in that needs more urgent care, then the patient that came in earlier will …show more content…
This would allow patients that can't get off of work, time to just walk in and be seen without having to make an appointment and take time off of work.
2. At this time, physicians can get caught up on paperwork and phone calls in between the rush periods.
3. This method, for the most part will allow more revenue (patients) to come in, since other facilities may be closed at that time.

Would prefer this system in a medical office you were managing?

In my office I would not just have an open hours office, because you never know when your downtime would be to get your paperwork caught up. I would set up for a couple of days a week in between a couple of regular appointments for open hours. I would have the first wave would be in between 7:00 am. To 11:00 am. And the second wave would be in between 4:30 pm. To 8:30 pm. On those two days I would make sure that my staff was split between the two shifts, like morning and afternoon then the next week they would rotate those two days to be fair and/or have volunteers for the shifts.

Reference:

Malone, C. (2012-08-01). Medical Office Management, 1st Edition. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from