Do your Emergencies just show up, or do they call first? Do you have a means of determining what kind of appointment to bring them in for? Do you have problems finding an appointment for them? Maybe this pearl can help you reduce the frustration of emergencies.
There are numerous types of emergencies requiring more or less chairtime and doctor time. It is foolish to waste chairtime and doctor time if not necessary. It is also important to plan for inevitable emergencies. Typical emergencies and the types of appointments they need are:
10-15-minute Emergencies: Poking Archwire, Poking Ligature wire, Ligature Chain off, Separator out, Loose Archwire, Elastics concerns
20-30-minute Emergencies: a Loose Bracket, a Loose Band, Broken Archwire, Broken Appliance, Severe Trauma/Pain, Parent/Patient upsets
40-60-minute Emergencies: Multiple arch breakages or a selfie that shows the need for more chairtime
You must train your patient/families to call when they have an emergency. You can’t plan if they just show up and wreck your daily schedule. When they call, they need to provide the receptionist with enough information to be able to schedule the required appointment to resolve their emergency.
An “Emergency Card” reference (see attached Word® file) is helpful to pick out their problem. It is also helpful to have the means by which they can text the receptionist a selfie of their problem so that she can determine what kind of appointment to schedule. To make your Emergency Card, just enter your office and phone number, email a pdf of the 4.25" x 5.5" card to your printer, print on gloss card stock about 1,000+ for each office and hand them out to your patients.
For this system to work you need “hold” appointments in your schedule. These are 1, 2 and 3-unit appointments (e.g., 1-Hold, 2-Hold, 3-Hold) in your schedule that are not scheduled until the afternoon before or the day of those hold appointments.
The combination of patient training, Hold appointments and Emergency Card should help to reduce the frustration and waste of your emergency appointments. Also refer to the pearl http://www.thebioengineeringco.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=241&Itemid=766 for more information on emergency patient control.
See the attached Word® file to create your customized Emergency Card.
