Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
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Unit 1 Health Informatics Career Pathway
The process of scheduling begins with blocking off times when
providers are not seeing patients. Examples of blocked times include
lunchtime, attendance at a conference, or time spent seeing patients in
the hospital. The standard time allowed for each type of appointment
should be determined ahead of time. Many appointments are 15 minutes
in length, but a physical exam may last one hour. Leave a few open
appointment times in the morning and in the afternoon. This allows for
emergencies and for catch-up time if the scheduled appointments run late.
When scheduling a patient’s appointment over the phone, you
should learn the reason for the appointment and the patient’s full
name (Figure 2.15). Ask for the spelling if you are unsure. You should
also list the patient’s current phone number. Ask the patient for his or
her preferred appointment time. It may take a few attempts to fi nd an
available appointment at a time that is convenient for the patient. Once
you have set an appointment, repeat the day, date, and time for the patient
before ending your call. If the appointment is made while the patient is in
the clinic, provide a reminder card with these details as well as the name
of the physician.
If a patient calls to cancel an appointment, remain polite and
positive and ask why the appointment needs to be canceled. Record the
cancellation in the schedule and list the cancellation and reason in the
patient’s chart. Offer to reschedule the appointment. If the patient needs
continuing care, you may need to call back to remind him or her to
reschedule.
If your offi ce needs to cancel appointments because of an emergency
or because a doctor is ill, you don’t need to give the specifi c reason.
Contact the patient as soon as you know about the schedule change, and
try to reschedule while you have the patient on the phone.
Computerized scheduling systems have some advantages over
handwritten schedules (Figure 2.16). With these systems, you can
easily block certain times, such as lunch, for several days with a single
entry. A computerized system will also search for the next available
appointment times for you or show you the schedule for a date you have
Figure 2.15 Accuracy is
important when scheduling
appointments over the
phone. Be sure to verify
the patient's name and
reason for coming in so that
your appointment book is
accurate.