07/11/2015     Keith Gurnick, DPM

Problems with No-Show First Appointments (Paul Busman, DPM, RN)

With all due respect to Dr. Busman, in a well
run, busy, and efficient podiatric medical
practice a missed appointment is not a blessing
in disguise. A scheduled appointment should be a
commitment by the patient and also by the doctor
for an office visit which takes into account the
time, treatment room, office staffing, and other
resources needed for that patient's care.

I do not believe any doctor expects to make a
living on the money collected for a missed
appointment or even enjoys, for that matter,
billing a potential new patient this type of fee.

We all face this issue from time to time. Some
more often than others, probably depending on the
patient demographics and other variables. The
commitment cannot rest only on the doctor's
shoulders. There must at some point be an equal
responsibility on the patient as well.

For many doctor's offices the reason missed
appointments are a serious concern is of course
the negative financial impact on the practice.
Obviously, a missed appointment fee does not make
up the income from a missed appointment, but it
does serve as a financial punishment that may
induce a patient to give ample due notification
if they cannot keep their commitment, as opposed
to just not showing up for the visit.

For other offices, it is the missed opportunity
to schedule another patient who would have liked
to be seen on that day or at that time, but the
time was already allocated to another potential
patient. As doctor's we can only see so many
patients in a single day, and we can only be in
one room at a time.

Also for the readers, please remember that the
original question posed by Dr. Joshua Kaye was
specific to "cash paying new patient no shows"
and not cancellations in general.

Keith Gurnick, DPM, Los Angeles, CA

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