Typical Scenario
Receptionist: “Hello, Dr. Smith’s office? How may I help you?
Mom: “I’m running a little late for Johnny’s appointment and I just wanted to call and tell you.”
Receptionist: “Thanks so much for calling! You’re so courteous. We will see you when you get here.”
Two minutes later…
Receptionist: “Doctor, Johnny’s mom called and said they were running a little late.”
Doctor: “What did you tell her?”
Receptionist: “I told her thanks for calling and we would see Johnny when she gets here.”
Doctor: “What??? Johnny has a 4:45 appointment! And it’s Friday! Now I have to sit here and wait for them to decide to show up? You gave them permission to come whenever and I’m going to suffer for it! Don’t ever do that again!”
Receptionist (practically in tears): “I’m sorry… I did my best.”
And, honestly, the receptionist did her best to be courteous to the patient and thank the patient for calling to let her know what was going on. What do you expect her to do if you haven’t trained her how to handle this situation? There is a better way!
Scenario 2
Receptionist: “Hello, Dr. Smith’s office? How may I help you?
Mom: “I’m running a little late for Johnny’s appointment and I just wanted to call and tell you about it.”
Receptionist: “Thanks so much for calling! You’re so courteous. I see his appointment is at 4:45 today. If you can be here by 4:55 we will work him in. If you can’t make it by then we need to go ahead and reschedule. Which works better for you?”
Problem solved. Every patient has an appointment time every single time. No one is ever told “we will see you when you get here”. Train your team how to handle this situation and never deal with it again!
Great solution. Do you ever charge for no shows or patient’s that need to be rescheduled this way?
Great question Beth! We don’t charge for no shows or rescheduling. We try hard to have an inclusive price and not nickel and dime people but I know others who do charge and it works well for them. We don’t get too worried about the occasional missed appointment but if it becomes a chronic problem we will meet with the patient and parent to see if we can find a solution.
Thanks for the scripting…we added this training to our staff meeting this month. i’ll let you know how it goes 🙂