I think this post could also appropriately be titled “Growing Pains.” As it turns out, having a growing practice requires at least as much adjustment and attention as having a quiet practice that needs to grow more! I should know, because when I took over this practice four years ago, it definitely fell in the latter category.
At least when your practice is quiet, you have no trouble giving patients what they want. You can spend as much time as needed with each patient without worrying that it will back up your schedule. If someone wants to get an appointment last-minute, or maybe even RIGHT NOW, that can probably be arranged.
Busy practices are a little more tricky to manage, especially when patients are perhaps used to that practice being a little slower and quieter. This fact was made obvious to me last summer when the back-to-school rush started in June and barely teetered out by September! Instead of getting folks in the same day or next day, we were booked out a solid week. I was grateful to be so busy, but I was sad not to provide my patients with the convenience to which they were accustomed.
As a result of last summer’s experience, my staff and I put some serious thought into how the practice was running and how we could increase our efficiency to allow more patients onto a day’s schedule without negatively affecting each patient’s experience in our practice. In other words, we brainstormed ways to help more people each day without increasing wait time, decreasing patient/doctor interaction, or generally decreasing the quality of care that we value so highly.
Starting sometime in Fall 2014, we ramped up our schedule to accommodate more patients each day. We identified times that we often were ahead of schedule, and we squeezed exams into those times! Although we sometimes found ourselves with a stack of charts waiting for us at the end of packed days, we were happy with the results and felt like patient care had been unaffected.
Fast-forward to January 2015. Apparently boosted by large numbers of patients whose insurance benefits reset at year’s end, our schedule was bursting at the seams on a daily basis. Add in some staff turnover, and we were hurting to keep up with both our schedule and our paperwork. Although we felt good about our overall effort, we definitely recognized situations where higher wait times or lack of organization hindered our ability to exceed our patients’ expectations.
So here’s the growing pain: fighting the balance between not wanting to make patients wait a week to schedule an exam and not making patients wait 10-20 minutes in our office for their scheduled exams. It’s not a situation I take lightly, as I both value the convenience that I like to offer our patients and respect my patients’ time and need to get out of my office in a reasonable interval.
In response to this lengthy preamble, I present an exciting new development in our office: my staff of one has now doubled to two, at least for the busy summer season. Although having an assistant in my small exam room with me and my patients makes for tight quarters, it allows me to focus on giving great care while my assistant takes care of the charting that normal cramps my schedule. In the two weeks since we started this experiment, I’m happy to say that wait times are generally non-existent! We are fine-tuning our new roles within the office, and I’m excited to see how we handle the summer load and maintain a shorter time of being booked out compared to last year.
A note for those who like to drop in for appointments: scheduled times are always welcome and recommended to make things more predictable for everyone and to decrease the amount of time you have to spend waiting in our office. However, I am confident that our new office team will allow us to more effectively handle walk-in appointments without inconveniencing our scheduled patients. Be prepared to wait a few extra minutes if you don’t have a scheduled appointment, though 🙂
This has been a long time coming, and I’m grateful to our many patients who have helped us grow the practice to this point. Rest assured that we will continue to look for new ways to increase efficiency and maintain the high level of care and service that we love to give to you, your family, and your friends!
Dr. G
Costco Eye Doctor 