Mary: "Hi... ma'am, your appointment was yesterday. We have you marked down as a no-show."
Mrs. Hansen: "I'm sorry, I had a family emergency. Can't you just see me today?"
Mary: "No, we're completely booked up."
Mrs. Hansen: "But I had an emergency!"
Mary: "I understand, that can happen. We can see you this Friday at 1:00 or..."
Mrs. Hansen: "Why are you doing this to me?"
Mary: "Excuse me?"
Mrs. Hansen: "I don't appreciate that you're treating me like a leper."
Mary: "Ma'am, I'm not..."
Mrs. Hansen: "This is so unfair! I had an emergency that wasn't my fault, and for that you're punishing me."
(pause)
Mary: "Do you want the appointment on Friday afternoon or not?"
Mrs. Hansen (scrolls through phone): "No, I'm meeting a friend at the casino."
15 comments:
Do not understand people who think that every doctor office is a walk-in clinic. Miss an appointment? No reason to call! Just show up when you want!
grumble self-absorbed dimwits taking over the world grumble grumble
Baby needs a new pair of shoes.
Thanks to a generation raised to believe the world has to be "fair" or revolve around them, this is what we are left with.
In primary care we have 30% open access. One office in our group had 70%. You could call and get a PE scheduled for the same day. There is a push for specialists to follow suit.
"Mrs. Hansen" - nice one.
Ditto Anon @ 1147 ~ thanks for the chuckle!
And the NOIVE of that Mary, treating a patient like that!!
{gigglesnorts}
The very first intake sheet should have a line that says: "Define Emergency"
@Old Squid....and I wonder how that is achieved? Is it not making abouts for later in the week....ie, I attempted to make an appointment in the afternoon for the following day (pink eye)but they would not do that. Instead, I had to call the next morning for a same day appointment. I find this practice annoying, but I guess is allows them to have "open access"
Yes, I'm almost positive that "casino meeting" is an emergency, so why should I bother to show up?
I love hearing the excuses! (not!)
Back of the line, for you!
I'm sure it's Mary's fault for not calling to remind her 5 times ahead of said appointment and then foreseeing said emergency and averting it.
Did you read about the ex-mayor of San Diego? She gambled a BILLION dollars away over the last 9 years because she was developing a brain tumor that caused gambling addiction. So if Mrs. Hanson loses you may be liable for not giving her the appointment. What's the odds she will win at the casino?
Cape Cod Step-Mom, yeah, before the kinks got worked out this was a problem. Also phone lines being jammed at 0700 was a problem. Now we are "allowed" to start making next day appointments at 2pm if we are booked. Working for a medium physician organization we also have "Express Care" at three locations which treats minor aliments like pink-eye, strep, etc. by a NP or PA either first thing in the am or after work until 8. The added benefit of this is not having an urgent care co-pay, which is usually higher than a co-pay for an office visit.
Mary needs a REASON to drink? What's that all about?
Wanna "bet" Mrs. Hansen has an emergency on Friday as well?
And just how does Mary keep a "poker" face when dealing with these clods?
This is one of my ultimate biggest pet peeves at my office! We are a surgery clinic and all of our clinic days are booked out at least 1 month. When we set up an appt, people usually are aware of that fact. But I get people missing appts all the time and then whining that they can't get in for another month. Drives me crazy.
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