As a provider, all it takes is one patient to put you off schedule for the rest of the day.

You can be on time all morning and then you have a patient that is more complicated and takes longer. Do you say “sorry, this issue is too complicated and I don’t want everyone else to wait. I’m going to have to cut you off and have you come back.” Of course not.

You can be on time all day and someone brings in a list of problems and they want them all addressed in a 20 min appointment. If you address them all the rest of your patients are left waiting for who knows how long. If you only address a few of them and ask them to make another appointment, well people get upset about that too. Lose/lose situation.

You can be on time all day and then a patient shows up late. If you see them you’re going to be behind the rest of the day. If you ask them to reschedule you’re still the bad guy.

So I ask you, what is your solution? What magic formula is out there for a provider to always be on time?