You call your physician to schedule an appointment, only to be told that the next appointment is a week away! Or you call your doctor about a fever, only for them to say that the next appointment is two days away!
The reality is that every doctor’s office wants to fill their schedule, and it’s a difficult balancing act to fill their schedule and at the same time have enough availability for urgent visits.
Ask your doctor’s office how their schedule works. This extra knowledge may give you an edge in scheduling. If a doctor sees 20 patients per day:
- 2 of those slots may be dedicated to wellness visits and physicals, which are usually scheduled weeks in advance
- 10 slots may be routine visit slots, that can be filled at any time for any reason
- 5 of those slots may be open to scheduling three days before the appointment date.
- 3 of those slots may be for urgent, same day sick visits. One may be at 8am, the other at 11am, and the last at 4pm.
- Ask your doctor’s office when these slots are open and available for scheduling. If they open at 3pm the day before, call right at 3pm. If they open in the morning, be the first caller in the queue.
Other ideas would be to call at noon to see if a patient has cancelled their afternoon visit. Ask if the office has a waiting list where they can call you if a patient cancels. If your symptoms are really bad, ask to be transferred to the triage nurse, who may be able to fit you in with the physician’s permission.
