Administrative medical assisting 5th by lindh chapter13

May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible w

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or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part

Chapter 13

Patient Scheduling

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Tailoring the Scheduling System

• Customize system to accommodate

practice

• Primary goals

– Smooth flow of patients with minimal amount of waiting time

– Flexibility to accommodate acutely ill, STAT

appointments, work-ins, cancellations, no-shows

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Scheduling Styles

• May be done manually or electronically

• HIPAA sign in compliant

• Sign-in sheet most efficient means of checking in patients

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Patient Sign-In Sheet

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Scheduling Styles

• Open hours

– Patients seen throughout particular time frame (examples: 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM or 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM)

– Patients seen on first-come, first-served basis – Maintain steady flow of patients

– Sign-in sheet

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– Patients should not have to continually wait for

staff to attend them

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Scheduling Styles

• Wave scheduling

– Patients scheduled in first half hour of each hour – Requires personnel who are able to prioritize patient problems precisely when establishing appointments

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Scheduling Styles

• Modified wave scheduling

– Two or three patients scheduled at beginning of each hour, followed by single appointments

– Variation assesses major and minor problems – Good screening will determine success of this method

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Scheduling Styles

• Stream scheduling

– Best known and most widely used

– Each patient assigned specific time

– Establish realistic time guidelines for particular types of appointments

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Scheduling Styles

• Practice-based scheduling

– Customized systems to fit needs of medical office – Practice determines schedules

– Many variations of scheduling styles

– Appointment scheduling can be accomplished online

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Analyzing Patient Flow

• Patient flow analysis

– Clear picture of patient flow

– Whether personnel being used efficiently

– Will help estimate number of patients to schedule – Sets realistic time frames for procedures

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• Patient flow analysis

– Electronic scheduling systems can automatically provide detail to analyze effectiveness of patient scheduling

– May allow more minutes for follow-up visits or build in slack time

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• Waiting time

– Explain reason for delay

– Give patients estimate of how long delay will be – Never ignore delay

– Attempt to keep patients comfortable

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• Waiting time

– Attempt to contact patients before they leave

home to reschedule appointments if delay

anticipated

– Provide options if delay will be half hour or longer – Act professionally

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Legal Issues

• Appointment schedules are legal

documents

• Computerized systems provide

permanent record of patients seen

• Appointment book or daily appointment sheet is permanent record

• Accurately and consistently document all aspects of patient care

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Guidelines for Scheduling

Appointments

• Variables

– Urgency of need of appointment

– Whether appointment has referral from another provider

– Recording methods for new and for established patients

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Appointments

• Variables

– Implementation of check-in, cancellation,

rescheduling policies

– Use of reminder systems

– Accommodating visits from medical supply and pharmaceutical company representatives

– Group scheduling may be appropriate

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Appointments

• Screening calls

– Assess urgent calls before scheduling them

– Ask appropriate questions

– If questioning indicates medical emergency, follow policy for having patient seen

– Do your best to address the situation

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Appointments

• Referral appointments

– Give special consideration and schedule

appointment as soon as possible

– Obtain records and information from referring provider’s office

– Determine urgency and appropriateness of appointment

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Appointments

• Recording information

– Patients may be sensitive about giving information – Keep information as simple as possible; obtain only essential information

– Basic items should be obtained from new patient – Clinics with computerized scheduling and billing will require additional items

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Appointments

• Appointment matrix

– Gives current, accurate record of appointment times available

– Identifies provider’s schedules, vacations,

holidays, hospital rounds, meetings

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Appointments

• Electronic scheduling

– Computer searches database for available appointment times

– Confirms time and date with patient

– Enter patient data to automatically schedule appointment

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Appointments

• Patient cancellation and appointment

changes

– General rule: after three no-shows or cancellations

in a row, provider will review records

• Patient may not be committed to treatment

• Providers may decide to terminate services by sending certified letter to patient

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– However, they can provide valuable service to

providers and staff

– May set aside specific time during week or

standard appointment once a month

– Determine time allotted

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Scheduling Software and Materials

• Proper tools will enable patient

scheduling to smoothly function

• Materials needed for scheduling should

be customized

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• Appointment schedule

– Essential system to any medical practice

– Physical arrangement of scheduler must be

determined

– Appointment sheet necessary for legal risk

management and quality management

– Enables staff members to see total day’s patient flow

– Can be transferred to handheld computer device

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• Computer scheduling software

– May schedule resources, equipment, examination rooms, specialty staff as well as patients and

providers

– Select next available appointment

– Can be component of practice management

facility

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• Computer scheduling software

– Online systems can handle prescription refill

requests, patient–provider email messages,

laboratory results

– Electronic scheduling has become the “entry” to field of computerized medical information

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Inpatient and Outpatient Admissions Procedures

• Appointments for outpatient or inpatient procedures most often made while

patient is in facility

• Appointments might include:

– Endoscopy exams

– Specialized radiology procedures

– Computerized tomography (CT) scans and

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures

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• If patient prefers to make arrangements for procedure, following information

necessary:

– Name, address, telephone number of patient

– Name of provider ordering procedure

– Name of procedure and preoperative diagnosis

– Name of patient’s insurance, ID number, Social Security number

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• When MA schedules procedure:

– Make certain patient knows correct date and time – How to get to place where examination performed – Inform how and when he or she will receive test results

– If someone is needed to provide transportation home

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• Scheduling inpatient admissions to hospital:

– Provider may want patient in hospital quickly – Provide pertinent patient and insurance

information

– In primary care, MA will do scheduling

– When surgery scheduled, MA must sometimes coordinate several entities

– Be sensitive to patient’s needs at this time

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