Because, you
need to do some things beforehand.
1) Call for your appointment. This seems
like a no-brainer. Like who can mess this one up, right? Sure. Yesterday, I made
an appointment for myself, over the phone, with a new provider. Before I called,
I made sure I had my insurance information and my calendar, even though I ended
up on hold for about five minutes before a real person answered. When someone
finally picked up, I knew what I wanted and when I wanted it, but was also open
to options.
When you make your appointment, have realistic expectations. The
person on the other end of that phone really is trying to get you a time, date
and provider that works best for you, but sometimes the stars just don’t align.
If you can only make it at 10:00 next Tuesday, you are going to have to see
whoever is available. Or if you only ever want to see Doctor Dreamy, you might
have to wait until next September.
2) You’re leaving today’s appointment
and are willing to make your appointment for next year. These patients always
fascinate me. Who knows what they are doing a year from now? But, God bless
them, I love those people. Thing is, things do change and if that appointment
suddenly no longer works for you, give us a call as soon as you can to change
it. We have other patients who would be happy to take your time slot if you
aren’t going to make it.
3) Walk-ins. I suppose this shouldn’t be
under the “before your appointment” heading, coz here you are wanting an
appointment right now. All clinics are different. Some embrace walk-ins, others
have a strict policy against it. A lot of clinics wish they could take walk-ins
or same day add-ons, but their schedules just don’t allow it. You need to find
out what your clinic’s policy is and try your hardest to adhere to it. Yes, of
course, things come up and no matter what management says, your provider might
be able to squeeze you in, but don’t count on it and don’t begrudge them the
right to have a life and turn you away.
What, by the way, is a legitimate reason to walk in to your
clinic and ask to be seen ASAP? Again, that is going to vary from clinic to
clinic. At one time, our clinic tried Advanced Access, this model where any
patient could get in to see any provider pretty much any time they wanted. I
never figured out how that could possibly work, but some supposed expert said,
yes, it will work and here’s how. Needless to say, hmm? I don’t remember if it even
worked for a week by us. But I digress.
Simple, acute illnesses, like ear aches, sore throats, a gouty
toe, all might easily be worked into your providers’ schedule. A shoulder that’s
been hurting for three weeks and today you decide is the day you want it to be
checked out? I wouldn’t count on being seen the same day for that. If it’s been
a problem for a couple weeks, a couple more days won’t matter. Likewise, if you
woke up this morning with a stuffed-up nose, there is not a darn thing we are
going to do about it. You have a cold, or maybe allergies, and you need to give
it some time.
4 4) Incidentals. (I cannot believe I
spelled that right on the first try.) There are so many other things, such as
making sure your insurance covers the clinic as well as the particular provider
you are seeing, finding the clinic, finding a parking spot, finding someone to
drive you there when your car breaks down, how much you will be appreciated if
you have taken a shower and are wearing clean clothes, and so many other things
that I can’t mention them all. One thing though, which will be an entire episode
down the road in this series, is to bring an updated list of every medication
you are taking or even bring the bottles. Since this is a whole topic of its
own, I won’t elaborate now, but just know, it’s coming.
Come back next week and I might actually have you checking in
for your appointment.
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| When you call your clinic, give the people on the other end a break, coz you never know what kind of phone system they are dealing with. |
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