Medical practices are often challenged with how to handle a missed appointment during which follow-up care or treatment was to be provided. It is important that the practice have a procedure to ensure that no-shows and cancellations are communicated to the treating provider and any actions taken are documented in the medical record. Show
Depending on the patient’s diagnosis and/or reason for the appointment, the treating provider may instruct an assigned staff member to follow-up missed appointments either verbally or by way of a “missed appointment letter.” Generally, the efforts required to contact the patient are commensurate with the patient’s medical condition and potential consequences of missed treatment. When notifying the treating provider of a missed appointment, staff should include the reason for the visit. Depending on the patient’s diagnosis and/or reason for the appointment, the treating provider may instruct that the patient be contacted and informed of the need for the appointment to be rescheduled and kept. Instructions should include the time frame (e.g., “call patient to reschedule, should be seen within 7-10 days”). If a patient is at minimal risk (e.g. a well checkup), no action may be required or a single phone call or letter outlining the consequences of failure to receive needed treatment in a timely manner may be sufficient. It may be necessary to warn the patient of possible discharge from the medical practice for repeated missed appointments. For patients at moderate risk, such as those who need ongoing monitoring or treatment, a more concerted effort may be required. Usually two documented phone calls and a certified letter outlining the consequences of failure to receive needed treatment in a timely manner should be adequate. If the missed appointment is for the purpose of notifying the patient of abnormal test results requiring further treatment, failure to follow-up on a missed appointment could lead to a delay in diagnosis if the patient is not notified and treatment does not ensue. Generally, the reasonableness of the follow-up effort will depend on the clinical importance of the test results, the severity of the patient’s medical condition and the risk associated with failing to notify the patient of the results. All efforts to educate the patient and complete the follow-up should always be documented in the medical record. If letters are sent, they should be in clear, reader-friendly language at a fourth grade reading level in order to be understandable and in compliance with Limited-English Proficiency Guidelines. If the letter is returned undeliverable, verify that the address corresponds with the address given by the patient and if the post office provides a new address, resend the letter to the new address and note this in the medical record. If a letter is returned because delivery was refused by the patient, resend the letter to the same address using first class regular mail. As with all patient communication, staff should document the date and time of the call or place a copy of the missed appointment letter in the patient’s medical record. If a patient repeatedly does not return to the office, after appropriate contact attempts have been made, the treating provider may take steps to discharge the patient from the medical practice. Please consult an SVMIC claims attorney for assistance by calling 800-342-2239 or 615-377-1999.
For practice managers, having a flexible and well-designed appointment system is vital to ensure your practice runs efficiently to monitor patient attendance and support effective time management, and inform patient triage and staff requirements. The appointment system underpins many of the practice’s operations and should reflect the overall practice policy as well as the schedule requirements of each practitioner. General overviewYour appointment system will most likely be a computer-based system but it can be paper based. Assistance with the choice of system can be sought from your professional organisation. Ensure you and your staff receive comprehensive training so that all the system’s features and functions can be fully utilised. Computerised appointment systems can be viewed by the staff and practitioners throughout the day to help monitor waiting times and patient priorities. It can also help manage no-shows and cancellations.Informed patientsAs a practice manager, make sure you inform new patients about your appointment policy and procedures. They need to know what your expectations are regarding cancellation of appointments, whether they will be notified if there are delays, and what “reasonable access” actually means. This information can be presented as part of the information included in the form of a practice brochure and could include:
For particular specialist practices there may be unique aspects to consider. e.g.: For obstetricians, the following points could be considered in the appointment
For proceduralists:
TriageIn the development of your appointment policy and protocols, you will also need to consider triage and delegations. A triage system allows identification of patients who require priority access to the practitioner/treatment due to potentially serious/urgent presentations. ( see “POPGUNS” resource ) A particular skill required by front desk staff is the ability to prioritise, or triage patients – whether this is by patient presentation at the practice or by referral from another practitioner by phone, so that the sickest can be treated first. Examples: Your protocol may be that all calls from another medical practitioner about a referral are forwarded directly to the practitioner to determine urgency and scheduling. In a general practice, the staff may be delegated the task of determining the urgency of ‘fit-in’ appointments. If this is the case, the protocol would clearly state what complaints/symptoms described by the patient are immediately referred to the general practitioner or practice nurse (if employed) and when staff are expected to call for an ambulance. General practices that employ a practice nurse may decide to transfer all callers with concerns immediately to the nurse for immediate triaging. When patients present, they may also be triaged and, as appropriate, directed immediately to the practice nurse/clinically trained staff member and taken to a treatment room. In larger practices it may be that there is a nominated GP rostered to attend to urgent/walk-in patients on a particular day. Appointment systems should enable prioritising of appointments, either labelling or colour-coding ‘urgent’ appointments so practitioners can easily determine the status of patients in the waiting room. If your expectations of your staff with regards to triage do not match their qualifications and/or training, you are endangering your patients and leaving your staff (and hence yourself) exposed. The art of appointment schedulingHow appointments are scheduled can impact on the practice in a number of ways. For example, if appointments are made to include a mix of appointment types e.g. old patients, new patients, procedures, health assessments, it will impact on staffing numbers and practice income. If you think about the type of appointments used in your practice, consider what the best way of scheduling appointments for the best outcomes for all parties is.Time managementIdeally, an appointment system should include the following features to ensure the best time management:
Schedule your consultation lengths to enable adequate time to:
Non-attendance of patientsA patient’s non-attendance or cancellation of a review appointment may be an indication of a dissatisfied patient but also can require clinical follow-up. When a patient does not present for a scheduled appointment, or leaves before being seen by medical staff, the practitioner should be notified. With existing patients, document why the appointment has been cancelled and what further action, if any, should or has been taken. If you have concerns about patient compliance, a letter could be sent to the patient or to the referring practitioner and a copy of this letter kept on the patient’s file. If the condition is serious, the letter should be sent to the patient by registered post. Recording and monitoring patient attendanceUse the appointment system for:
To maximise quality patient outcomes, it is important that the appointment system alerts the practitioner to patient compliance and supports the recall and monitoring requirements. The practitioner should be made aware of all “no shows” and cancellations so that a decision can be made if further action is required. Improve your practiceThe ideal features of an appointment system can be classified as supporting time management, patient satisfaction and patient compliance. Time management for each practitioner may be different and it is important that your appointment system can support the flexibility required.Computerised appointment systemsIf a computerised appointment system is utilised, this will often be linked to the practitioner’s desk where non-attendance and cancellations are retained on the daily scheduling screen. For computerised appointment systems, you should ensure clear protocol for staff regarding communication with practitioners about cancellations or rescheduled appointments, as these will disappear off the day’s appointment list as they are cancelled or moved. Your practice protocol might be for staff to add cancelled or rescheduled appointments back onto the bottom of the day’s appointment list with a notation. This would mean practitioners could easily review the changes and make a decision as to whether follow-up action is required. Paper-based appointment systemsFor paper-based appointment systems, this can be supported by the following:
Next pageMedical record management
Which of the following is an action that would motivate a patient to not miss an appointment?Which of the following is an action that would motivate a patient to not miss an appointment? Schedule the patient to fit into open office time periods.
Which of the following is the most appropriate action when a patient telephones with symptoms of an acute illness?Which of the following is the most appropriate action when a patient telephones with symptoms of acute illness? Work an appointment into the schedule immediately.
Which is the best action for scheduling a physician who is consistently late for appointments?Which is the best action for scheduling a physician who is consistently late for appointments? Adjust the office schedule to handle the situation.
What is the best approach for handling the cancellation of an appointment by a patient?The best approach to handling patient cancellations is to send appointment reminders at least six days before the appointment. If you can do them again 48 hours before, that would be great. Try using phone calls for the final reminder.
|