Chapter 10: Office
Administration | Study
Guide, Practice Questions
& Exam Review
|Guaranteed success|
,One of the most important administrative duties for a [Scheduling] Making Appointments
medical assistant is to make appointments and maintain
the practice appointment book. The person responsible
for scheduling the appointments plays a key role in
making sure the office runs smoothly. Patients do not
want to wait more than 15 to 20 minutes before being
seen by the doctor, and the doctor wants a smooth
flow of patients. Patients who are very ill or have an
emergency want to be seen promptly.
Patient satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the - Speak clearly and do not appear rushed; give your total attention to the
experience of making an appointment can determine person on the other end of the telephone.
whether the patient will remain with the practice or find - Repeat information back to avoid errors.
another physician. Your demeanor on the telephone is - Always be friendly, courteous, and interested in what the caller has to say.
very important. - Schedule the appropriate amount of time for the type of appointment you are
making.
You will use a manual appointment book or a computer - An appointment book may have pages for a single day or week, and for an
to schedule appointments. It is helpful to create a list individual doctor or multiple doctors. Appointments may be set up in 10-15
with the preferred time frames per type of appointment minute intervals. Initial appointments or those requiring complete
in your practice. history/physical exam are generally longer, as are some medical procedures
and office-based procedures.
- A computerized schedule shows the same information; the doctor has a
screen for each day, which can be printed. Corrections, additions, and
deletions can be done easily. The daily printout can be used at the end of the
day to note cancellations and "no-shows" (those who do not show up) in the
patient record.
Some basic information must be obtained when you - Patient's full name: request a correct spelling, and use date of birth to confirm
are scheduling an appointment the correct identity for those with common names
- Contact telephone numbers: repeat back the numbers to ensure accuracy
- Purpose of the visit (e.g., routine visit, immunizations): secure the appropriate
amount of time needed for each type of visit
Appointment Book See page 340, figure 10.1 for visual representation
The practice appointment record is considered legal [Legal Status of Appointment Record]
documentation. The office should have policies on how
to enter information to clearly show the status of
patients, including no-shows and cancellations. When
documenting in a paper file, never use correction fluid
or tape to blot out information. Instead, draw a single
line through the entry, and beside it, record notation
such as "can" for canceled, or "NS" for no-show. Include
the date, time, and reason if known. This information
should also be documented in the patient's chart.
, There are several different types of scheduling systems. [Appointment Systems]
The physician or the practice will choose which system
is best for their practice. Open hours, time-specified,
wave, modified-wave, double-booking, cluster,
advance, and combination scheduling are the different
methods used when setting up your appointment
record.
In an open-hours scheduling system, patients arrive at Open-hours scheduling system
their own convenience with the understanding that they
will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis, unless
there is an emergency. A drawback to open-hours
scheduling is a patient may have a long wait time. Open
scheduling is seen in public health clinics and urgent
care centers. This system increases the possibility of
inefficient downtime for the physician.
Time-specified scheduling is scheduling patients at Time-specified scheduling
regular, specified intervals. Minor medical problems
usually require 15-minute appointments. This type of
scheduling leaves more time to schedule physical
exams or procedures that can require 30- to 60-minute
appointments. Time-specific scheduling controls the
flow of the day and how the doctor's time is spent.
Wave scheduling works best in large medical facilities Wave scheduling
that have enough departments or personnel to give
service to several patients at one time. With wave
scheduling, the medical assistant asks the patients to all
arrive at the top of the hour. This system is based on the
experience that some patients will arrive late for their
appointment while others may need more time for an
appointment than initially expected. Patients are seen in
the order of their actual arrival time. A disadvantage of
wave scheduling is that patients can become annoyed
or angry if they realize that several patients have an
appointment at the same time.
The wave can be modified in different ways. Patients Wave Scheduling no.2
can be scheduled in 15-minute increments, regardless
of appointment type. Another method of wave
scheduling is to schedule four patients to arrive at
planned intervals during the first half hour, leaving the
second half unscheduled. Appointments that need
more time should be scheduled at the beginning of the
hour. Less time-consuming appointments would be
scheduled in 10- to 15-minute time slots. The use of this
method allows time for catching up.
Administration | Study
Guide, Practice Questions
& Exam Review
|Guaranteed success|
,One of the most important administrative duties for a [Scheduling] Making Appointments
medical assistant is to make appointments and maintain
the practice appointment book. The person responsible
for scheduling the appointments plays a key role in
making sure the office runs smoothly. Patients do not
want to wait more than 15 to 20 minutes before being
seen by the doctor, and the doctor wants a smooth
flow of patients. Patients who are very ill or have an
emergency want to be seen promptly.
Patient satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the - Speak clearly and do not appear rushed; give your total attention to the
experience of making an appointment can determine person on the other end of the telephone.
whether the patient will remain with the practice or find - Repeat information back to avoid errors.
another physician. Your demeanor on the telephone is - Always be friendly, courteous, and interested in what the caller has to say.
very important. - Schedule the appropriate amount of time for the type of appointment you are
making.
You will use a manual appointment book or a computer - An appointment book may have pages for a single day or week, and for an
to schedule appointments. It is helpful to create a list individual doctor or multiple doctors. Appointments may be set up in 10-15
with the preferred time frames per type of appointment minute intervals. Initial appointments or those requiring complete
in your practice. history/physical exam are generally longer, as are some medical procedures
and office-based procedures.
- A computerized schedule shows the same information; the doctor has a
screen for each day, which can be printed. Corrections, additions, and
deletions can be done easily. The daily printout can be used at the end of the
day to note cancellations and "no-shows" (those who do not show up) in the
patient record.
Some basic information must be obtained when you - Patient's full name: request a correct spelling, and use date of birth to confirm
are scheduling an appointment the correct identity for those with common names
- Contact telephone numbers: repeat back the numbers to ensure accuracy
- Purpose of the visit (e.g., routine visit, immunizations): secure the appropriate
amount of time needed for each type of visit
Appointment Book See page 340, figure 10.1 for visual representation
The practice appointment record is considered legal [Legal Status of Appointment Record]
documentation. The office should have policies on how
to enter information to clearly show the status of
patients, including no-shows and cancellations. When
documenting in a paper file, never use correction fluid
or tape to blot out information. Instead, draw a single
line through the entry, and beside it, record notation
such as "can" for canceled, or "NS" for no-show. Include
the date, time, and reason if known. This information
should also be documented in the patient's chart.
, There are several different types of scheduling systems. [Appointment Systems]
The physician or the practice will choose which system
is best for their practice. Open hours, time-specified,
wave, modified-wave, double-booking, cluster,
advance, and combination scheduling are the different
methods used when setting up your appointment
record.
In an open-hours scheduling system, patients arrive at Open-hours scheduling system
their own convenience with the understanding that they
will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis, unless
there is an emergency. A drawback to open-hours
scheduling is a patient may have a long wait time. Open
scheduling is seen in public health clinics and urgent
care centers. This system increases the possibility of
inefficient downtime for the physician.
Time-specified scheduling is scheduling patients at Time-specified scheduling
regular, specified intervals. Minor medical problems
usually require 15-minute appointments. This type of
scheduling leaves more time to schedule physical
exams or procedures that can require 30- to 60-minute
appointments. Time-specific scheduling controls the
flow of the day and how the doctor's time is spent.
Wave scheduling works best in large medical facilities Wave scheduling
that have enough departments or personnel to give
service to several patients at one time. With wave
scheduling, the medical assistant asks the patients to all
arrive at the top of the hour. This system is based on the
experience that some patients will arrive late for their
appointment while others may need more time for an
appointment than initially expected. Patients are seen in
the order of their actual arrival time. A disadvantage of
wave scheduling is that patients can become annoyed
or angry if they realize that several patients have an
appointment at the same time.
The wave can be modified in different ways. Patients Wave Scheduling no.2
can be scheduled in 15-minute increments, regardless
of appointment type. Another method of wave
scheduling is to schedule four patients to arrive at
planned intervals during the first half hour, leaving the
second half unscheduled. Appointments that need
more time should be scheduled at the beginning of the
hour. Less time-consuming appointments would be
scheduled in 10- to 15-minute time slots. The use of this
method allows time for catching up.
