Ch. 16 Schedule Management

A patient calls for an appointment because she has had a sore throat for four days. How much time should you schedule for her appointment?

15 minutes

A woman going to the practitioner for a routine prenatal exam can expect the appointment to last ____.

15 minutes

The typical time allotted for a routine Pap smear and pelvic exam is __.

15 to 30 minutes

Most patients are willing to wait no more than ___ minutes to be seen by a medical provider.

20

In-office minor surgery such as a mole removal typically lasts ____.

30 minutes

A new patient calls the provider's medical office and asks how long the appointment will take. The best response is ___.

30 minutes or more

The typical amount of time for a complete physical exam is ____.

30 to 60 minutes

What is the standard abbreviation for blood pressure?

BP

What is the common abbreviation for a complete physical examination?

CPE

What is the standard abbreviation for an electrocardiogram?

ECG

Which of the following is the common abbreviation for Pap Smear?

Pap

The practitioner has recommended that a patient have an annual physical to include a breast exam. What is the best way to help a patient remember to schedule next year's appointment?

Place the patients name in a tickler file so when the time arrives a form can be sent to remind the patient to call for an appointment.

In some specialties, patients may be booked weeks or months ahead in ___ scheduling.

advance

What is the best approach to handling patient cancellations?

attempt to schedule another patient in the cancellation slot

What is the best way to handle a practitioner who consistently throws off the office schedule by returning late from lunch?

avoid scheduling patients for the first appointment after lunch when possible

A medical assistant can help a practitioner make the most efficient use of his time by ___.

avoiding overbooking or under booking

An advantage of a computerized scheduling system is that it ___.

can identify patients who routinely are late, forget their appointments or cancel

When scheduling a patient for an outpatient surgical procedure, the medial assistant should ___ before choosing the facility or surgeon

check with the patients insurance company to verify coverage

Physical exams or procedures such as physical therapy or ultrasound are scheduled only at certain times in _____.

cluster scheduling

The appointment scheduling system that groups similar appointments together during the day or week is __.

cluster scheduling

which appointment scheduling system is also called categorization scheduling

cluster scheduling

A patient with diabetes whose blood sugar falls too low may experience ___.

confusion

A patient with _ requires extra consideration when scheduling and should not be scheduled for late morning.

diabetes

Which patient info would the medical assistant provide when scheduling a patients surgery?

diagnosis and insurance information

The appropriate procedure to follow for a patient who misses an appointment is to ____.

document the no show in the appointment book and in the patients chart

The appointment scheduling system in which two or more patients are scheduled for the same appointment time is

double booking

Which type of appointment scheduling system can be helpful if a patient calls and needs to be seen that day but no appointments are available?

double-booking

The appropriate procedure to follow with a cancellation is to ___.

draw a single line through the patients name and write canceled in the appointment book before entering the rescheduled time

The first step in preparing the appointment book is to ____.

establish the matrix of the appointment book

Carrie is to be scheduled for an elective outpatient surgical procedure. When you ask if she has a preferred date and time for the procedure, she tells you she would really like to have the surgery done on Monday of next week because her sister will be in town to help care for her. You check with the outpatient facility, and they have an operating room open at 1130 on Monday morning. However, the surgeon is scheduled to leave for vacation at noon. What should you do?

explain the situation to the surgeon and ask for his advice

Which of the following appointments typically takes 5 to 15 minutes?

follow-up visit

A disadvantage of the open hours scheduling system is that ___.

it increases the possibility of inefficient downtime for the physician

A detailed travel plan that lists dates and times of flights and events, locations and telephone numbers is ____.

itinerary

The main reason a diabetic patient who takes insulin must eat meals and snacks at regular times is to ___.

keep the blood sugar from dropping too low

Another name for a substitute physician who is hired to see patients while the regular physician is away is ___.

locum tenens

A patient who is currently in the office needs immediate attention but the practitioner has been called away to an emergency at the hospital. The best solution is to ___.

make sure the patient is seen by another practitioner

A medical assistant may be responsible for setting up the list of topics to be discussed or presented at a meeting in the order of presentation. That list is called ___.

minutes

Scheduling four patients to arrive at planned intervals during the first half hour, leaving the second half hour unscheduled is an example of ___.

modified wave scheduling

The best time to schedule a patient who needs a regular appointment such as a prenatal checkup is ____.

on the same day and time each week

e-scheduling is another term for ___.

online scheduling

Which of the following appointment scheduling systems allows patients to arrive at their own convenience with the understanding that they will be seen of a first come, first served basis.

open hours scheduling

A disadvantage of the wave scheduling system is that ___.

patients become annoyed or angry when they realize that they have appointments at the same time as other patients.

When you are obtaining patient info for an appointment you should include the ___.

purpose of the visit

Which of the following appointment reminders is best used for appointments that need to be scheduled 6 months to a year away from the patients current appointment?

recall notice

Appointment reminders include appointment cards, reminder mailings, reminder calls and ____.

recall notices

A medical assistant tells a patient that fasting prior to having blood drawn means

refraining from eating and drinking anything, beginning the night before the blood is drawn

Which appointment reminder is especially helpful for patients with a history of late arrivals or no shows?

reminder call

For which type of appointment reminder does the patient self address a card when leaving the office that is sent to the patient a week before the scheduled appointment?

reminder mailing

Which of the following should you do when scheduling a patient for a fasting procedure?

schedule the procedure as early in the day as possible

What is the best way to deal with patients who are routinely late for their appointments?

schedule them for an appointment toward the end of the day

The appointment scheduling system that assumes a steady stream of patients all day long at regular, specified intervals is ___.

time specified scheduling

Which of the following appointment scheduling systems is also called stream scheduling?

time specified scheduling

What situations can result in the practitioner having large, unused gaps in the schedule?

under booking and patient cancellations

In which appointment scheduling system is the number of patients to be seen each hour calculated by dividing the hour by the length of the average visit?

wave scheduling

The appointment scheduling system that is based on the reality that some patients will arrive late and others will require more or less time than expected with the physician is __.

wave scheduling