Hello Forum,
I feel like a question similar to mine has been posted before, but I can't find anything when I search, so I apologize if this is a repeat. I work at a large specialty practice with surgeons and neurologists, among other specialists, who are more than happy to send their patients to me...which is great! But, I am now struggling to figure out the best way to schedule my day and was curious how others are doing it. Do you have set appointment spots that are only for initial evaluations versus rechecks? Are these set in stone or do you change that depending on the week? I also struggle with having a full schedule and then the neurologist or surgeon will ask me to do a consult or treatment on a patient that is in the hospital on their service. Do I now have a set spot in my schedule each day to accommodate for that, knowing that that spot might go unfilled depending on the day? I also see patients that are referred from outside of our hospital. I've had our surgeons and neurologists get frustrated that they can't get their patients in to see me sooner...do I give priority to "our" patients? I don't even know how I would start to schedule for that! I'm just trying, as I'm sure we all are, to be more efficient, so I was hoping to get some ideas of what has worked for others. Thanks for your thoughts...
LP
Scheduling appointments
Re: Scheduling appointments
Hey LP!
No... this is a great question. And a bit of a unique challenge.
So let's start with follow ups vs initial assessments. I'd suggest just booking them into the spots as needed. Our IA's are twice as long as a follow up. (IA is 80 mins, Follow-ups are 40, we book for any water therapies separately and have assistants do those). With this format, we seem to do fine at fitting in whomever needs to come in. I'd worry that having 'set IA times' would leave you with holes in your day if you were too rigid about only slotting them into set times / days.
In regards to 'in house' appointments. Tricky!!! While I understand your desire to be able to put the needs of the inpatients as a priority. There would really need to be a check & balance on that. You either have a short window of time every day where you do your rounds (i.e. right after lunch or something to the like) when the specialists know that THAT is when you're available for an hour, as an example)... but other than that, they will have to 'book a time' with you, just like everyone else.
All in all, the more I read, the more I think you have a fabulous problem. You need too hire! The rule of thumb that I've heard professed by physio business gurus, is that if you are booked up 80% of the time, that's when you need to hire! It sounds to me like you are there! So... you either make your plea that another hire is needed (either another vet, or a PT or Vet Tech you can work with) so that you can accommodate the in patients, out patients, internal referrals, and external referrals. OR... you lose your mind trying to do it all! If you're not the owner, you'll need to lay out a plan. X number of hours in the day or treatment spots. X% are filled. Non-filled time is spent with charts, cleaning, marketing, call backs, etc. And with this metric, you are busy X # of hours / day or / week. Make your case!
But, by the sounds of it, you need another live body to help!
Best of luck! I'm hoping others will chime in.
Cheers,
Laurie
No... this is a great question. And a bit of a unique challenge.
So let's start with follow ups vs initial assessments. I'd suggest just booking them into the spots as needed. Our IA's are twice as long as a follow up. (IA is 80 mins, Follow-ups are 40, we book for any water therapies separately and have assistants do those). With this format, we seem to do fine at fitting in whomever needs to come in. I'd worry that having 'set IA times' would leave you with holes in your day if you were too rigid about only slotting them into set times / days.
In regards to 'in house' appointments. Tricky!!! While I understand your desire to be able to put the needs of the inpatients as a priority. There would really need to be a check & balance on that. You either have a short window of time every day where you do your rounds (i.e. right after lunch or something to the like) when the specialists know that THAT is when you're available for an hour, as an example)... but other than that, they will have to 'book a time' with you, just like everyone else.
All in all, the more I read, the more I think you have a fabulous problem. You need too hire! The rule of thumb that I've heard professed by physio business gurus, is that if you are booked up 80% of the time, that's when you need to hire! It sounds to me like you are there! So... you either make your plea that another hire is needed (either another vet, or a PT or Vet Tech you can work with) so that you can accommodate the in patients, out patients, internal referrals, and external referrals. OR... you lose your mind trying to do it all! If you're not the owner, you'll need to lay out a plan. X number of hours in the day or treatment spots. X% are filled. Non-filled time is spent with charts, cleaning, marketing, call backs, etc. And with this metric, you are busy X # of hours / day or / week. Make your case!
But, by the sounds of it, you need another live body to help!
Best of luck! I'm hoping others will chime in.
Cheers,
Laurie
LAURIE EDGE-HUGHES