Emergencies or Just Poor Work Habits?
Doris K. Reynolds-Johnson, CPA, MBA, Senior Health Care Consultant
Question: Patients are always complaining that they wait too long to see the doctors. My front desk personnel are stressed out from the nasty comments and glares from waiting patients. What can the staff or I do to address this?
Answer: If a doctor (or doctors) in your practice consistently runs late and there is no legitimate reason for it, then the staff is stuck making excuses. Rarely will a patient express their anger or frustration to the doctor. The staff is always the easiest target.
Are there legitimate reasons for the delay? A true medical emergency, such as a life-saving surgery, or a personal emergency for the doctor, or even a last-minute meeting at the hospital are some legitimate reasons. Medical emergencies will occur depending upon the type of medical practice. And, medical emergencies should be expected periodically.
However, if the doctor is chronically late because they accept personal (non-emergency) calls during patient hours; allow walk-in vendor visits; tend to dawdle in the morning and pick up the pace in the afternoon; or complete yesterday’s charts while patients are waiting to be seen today. . . . these are not emergencies. These are simply poor work habits. What can be done?
- Be sure that everything the staff can do has been done. The charts are ready. The patients have been properly greeted. Co-pays have been collected. The schedule was filled according to protocol.
- Talk with the tardy doctor. Explain the impact of his tardiness on patient satisfaction. Who out there has not discontinued seeing a doctor because the doctor was “excessively” late? Show of hands?
- If possible, adjust the appointment schedule. If you know the doctor is slow in the morning but picks it up in the afternoon, the morning schedule could have wider time slots and/or start a little later.
- Use a patient satisfaction survey and include tardiness on the survey. Sometimes when the doctor sees the frustration of his patients, it can be enough to make a correction.
- Keep track of dissatisfied patients who tell you they are changing doctors because of the tardiness.
- Keep track of patients who had to reschedule an appointment due to the doctor’s tardiness.
- If you are in a group practice, enlist the other doctors’ help by using peer pressure!
Finally, if the doctor’s tardiness cannot be changed and the staff cannot stand the complaining patients, then maybe the staff might be happier in a different position in the office or leaving the office altogether.
