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Originally Posted by AdminMan
When deciding ‘how late is too late’ it's important to take into consideration a few factors. It's not simply a matter of time management, but also involves looking at your whole approach and attitude to your podiatry practice.
But first I have to warn some of you that you might not agree with everything I’ve written in this post because it will challenge some of your personal beliefs about yourself and your own worth. I make no apologies, that’s because I know, and you probably do deep down, that you are worth more.
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I am ready... Go!
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Originally Posted by AdminMan
If you are a podiatry practice owner, this post really applies to you, because you are the leader in your business. If you are an employee or locum, you'll learn some valuable information about how your behavior can affect your patients.
To answer 'how late is too late’ you have to look at how you run your podiatry practice:
Are you ever late?
For example, how often do you run late? How late are you when you do run late? These questions are important to answer because the behaviour you display to your patients and staff is the behaviour you are telling them is acceptable.
If you've gotten into a habit of running late and not doing anything about it then you've probably already unconsciously taught your patients and staff that it's ok to be late too! Even if you are late once per week, it's probably too much!
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No it isn't.
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Originally Posted by AdminMan
If you are offering 30 minute appointments and you're running late from time to time then you should take a very close look at what you are actually doing in your consults that causes you to run late. When you have identified the cause, eliminate it.
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Eliminating flexibility might be one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. But please, continue.
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Originally Posted by AdminMan
Having a clock in a prominent spot where you will see it is a great idea, having a countdown timer is even better.
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A clock! Genius.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AdminMan
You can explain it to your patients by saying something like "I’ve got the timer because I was letting some patients down by running late. Don’t you hate it when you’re waiting for someone’s who’s running late? Now I use it to make sure I don’t run late anymore. I’ll do my best to make sure you receive all the care and attention during your appointment with me. In the unlikely event that it looks like we are going to run over time we’ll have to schedule another appointment if it’s necessary. Is that OK with you?”
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If you don't fully remove a spike from an OC because your buzzer goes off, then that patient will be back within days wanting the job done properly, preamble or not. The alternative is, they go elsewhere and mention to friends/colleagues/relatives that you only did half a job, damaging your reputation in the process.
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Originally Posted by AdminMan
By doing this you are being honest to your patients and getting their permission to look at the timer. They will respect you for it and you've set the guidelines for the management of your time. By setting clear expectations about how valuable your time is you are educating your patients and staff on how you expect them to behave in your practice. It clears up confusion and sets a great standard.
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Patients will contact you after being told that you are thorough, not punctual.
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Originally Posted by AdminMan
If you start doing this today in your practice, in 6 months time you will notice that patients don't run late and if they do they will call you to give you plenty of advance notice. You must do the same for them if you are running late too!
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Impractical. New patients will have no idea of the inflexible time keeping that you have indoctrinated your patients with. Common sense and decency will provide punctuality, as it often does. How can you give a patient advance notice that you are running late, if you do not know you are running late until the patient before? A simple, 'I am sorry, the Podiatrist is running a bit late, would you like a brew?' will suffice.
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Originally Posted by AdminMan
I’m not going to take up any more space here in this post because I know your time is valuable, but there are other factors that every good podiatrist must consider, for example how much do you value yourself?, what is you time worth? and what message do you send you patients about your self worth?
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Well I wear a t-shirt saying 'I am the freakin best' when I attend work, so they know I think I am bloody fantastic.
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Originally Posted by AdminMan
I’ll write more in another post about these critical factors.
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Please do, as my self worth is predicated on a daily dose of deconstructing nonsense.
I stood in the mirror this morning and shouted
'I am jimbob hear me roar!'
I then meditated, and thought about how great I am for 15 minutes.
Now everyone thinks I am an A-hole. :(
Now, reverting back to topic.
To err is human, to forgive divine. We work on 30 minute appointments, and will allow 10 minutes given the appropriate circumstances. A bit of give and take is much more valuable to the image of a practice than any self help rubbish, or created policy.
We are human after all, aren't we?
Re: How late is too late?
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