Administrative medical assisting 5th by lindh chapter13

Chapter 13 Patient Scheduling © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Scheduling Styles • May be done manually or electronically • HIPAA sign in compliant • Sign-in sheet most efficient means of checking in patients © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Patient Sign-In Sheet © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Scheduling Styles • Double booking – Two or more patients given particular appointment time – Limited to practice that can attend to more than one patient at a time – Patients should not have to continually wait for staff to attend them © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Scheduling Styles • Clustering – Patients with similar problems booked consecutively – Common for obstetricians and pediatricians © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Scheduling Styles • Stream scheduling – Best known and most widely used – Each patient assigned specific time – Establish realistic time guidelines for particular types of appointments © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Guidelines for Scheduling Appointments • Electronic scheduling – Computer searches database for available appointment times – Confirms time and date with patient – Enter patient data to automatically schedule appointment © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Guidelines for Scheduling Appointments • Patient check-in – Records of patient appointments serve legal purpose – Establish procedure for checking in appointments – More than one method can be used to check in patients – Alerts staff patient arrived and available to be seen – Can be done manually or electronically © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Guidelines for Scheduling Appointments • Patient cancellation and appointment changes – Indicate no-shows with red X or distinctive mark – Indicate cancellations with single red line – Note no-shows and cancellations on patients’ charts © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Guidelines for Scheduling 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Guidelines for Scheduling Appointments • Patient cancellation and appointment changes – Computer cancellations – Be certain program maintains list of canceled appointments including patient name, date, time – Necessary for legal purposes © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Guidelines for Scheduling Appointments • Reminder systems – Result in greater rate of fulfilled appointments – Methods • • • • • Appointment cards Telephone call Test message Email Mail © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Guidelines for Scheduling Appointments • Scheduling pharmaceutical representatives – Some medical clinics refuse to see pharmaceutical representatives – 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Scheduling Software and Materials • Proper tools will enable patient scheduling to smoothly function Materials needed for scheduling should be customized â 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Scheduling Software and Materials • 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Scheduling Software and Materials • 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Scheduling Software and Materials • 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Inpatient and Outpatient Admissions Procedures • 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Inpatient and Outpatient Admissions Procedures • 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 © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part Inpatient and Outpatient Admissions Procedures • Scheduling inpatient admissions to hospital: – Provider may want patient in hospital quickly – Provide pertinent patient and insurance information – In primary care, MA will scheduling – When surgery scheduled, MA must sometimes coordinate several entities – Be sensitive to patient’s needs at this time © 2014 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part ... 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... part Scheduling Styles • Practice-based scheduling – – – – Customized systems to fit needs of medical office Practice determines schedules Many variations of scheduling styles Appointment scheduling... check-in, cancellation, rescheduling policies – Use of reminder systems – Accommodating visits from medical supply and pharmaceutical company representatives – Group scheduling may be appropriate