Virtually every patient satisfaction survey reveals patients’ dissatisfaction with getting through on the phone to their healthcare provider. Phone trees should be a helpful bridge not an impenetrable wall. Careful planning and utilizing phone tree best practices improve your system and your patient satisfaction. When is the last time you called your office phone … [Read more...] about Phone Tree Best Practices
Scheduling
Case Study: Manage A Schedulers Time
A practice of four physicians and four nurse practitioners has five schedulers—one for each physician/NP pair and one to handle new patient referrals. Even with five full-time schedulers, they struggle to keep up with the workload. How to manage a schedulers time is frequently brought up to the practice administrator by two groups of people. The schedulers express that the work … [Read more...] about Case Study: Manage A Schedulers Time
Appointment Reminders
Almost every office and hospital use patient appointment reminders. Some are poor, others mediocre, and some do a relatively good job. In the present climate, we cannot stand for anything less than great. Appointment reminders increase appointment attendance and early cancellation when needed, which opens the slot to be refilled, or at least decreases no-shows in most cases. … [Read more...] about Appointment Reminders
Managing Patient No Shows
Managing patient no shows are a big problem, with many clinics facing no-show rates as high as 30%. This has been an even bigger problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. Every missed visit affects the bottom line. Just as important, if not more so, missed appointments don’t affect just the schedule and the revenue—they affect your patient’s health. No-shows and … [Read more...] about Managing Patient No Shows
Case Study: Dr. FB and the Cancellations
Dr. FB has been in the practice for five years. He is a good fit for the culture of the practice and gets along well with the other doctors. However, members of the staff have started complaining to the office manager about frequent clinic cancellations by Dr. FB. Overall, he sees as many or more patients than the other providers. His collections are good, but the staff reports … [Read more...] about Case Study: Dr. FB and the Cancellations