“Is there any way the doctor can see me NOW?!”
The emergency call; something that most D.C.s are prepared for and willing to do, but how do you really determine which call is something that you should jump in the car and run to the clinic for, as opposed to it being a patient who simply expects the doctor to change his or her schedule because they are not willing to change theirs when they need a visit? How do you know for sure that this is a true chiropractic emergency and it warrants bumping another patient back, coming in on off-days or staying late etc.?
I remember one call many years ago, when the patient called and said that she was “really in pain, could the doctor see me today (Sunday)?” My husband explained that I was out of commission with some health issues, but if she really needed it, he could see her at our home. She said “Yes! Please!” And she came over, and interrupted our family time. By the end of the visit, when she said something to the effect of “Sundays just work for me,” I realized that this patient was not a true chiropractic emergency, but that she simply had not wanted to reschedule her “busy calendar” to come in during normal business hours. It was then that I realized that it would take only one quick question to assess the true chiropractic emergency. And with it, the patient would never even know that they are revealing what is really going on.
“How long have you been hurting?”
They may say; “I woke up this morning and could hardly get out of bed.”
Or you may get; “I’ve been hurting for 3 weeks now, been meaning to get in for a while.”
So which one are you going to rearrange your schedule for? The person who had an onset of today, or one who has been hurting for three weeks and finally decides to call you on a day that you are not seeing patients? The fact that this patient has been hurting for a while, and has been holding off coming for weeks, means that their visit does not warrant emergency treatment. Of course there are exceptions to the rules; “I’ve been out of town for the last 2.5 weeks just gritting my teeth until I could get back to see you.” Of course, that would be a different situation. Just take a moment to listen to the patient and you should quickly be able to determine how to handle things. If you determine that this is not a true chiropractic emergency, simply tell the patient that “the earliest the doctor will be available is tomorrow at 9:00 a.m., can I put you down on the schedule?”
Remember, YOU need to be the one who controls YOUR schedule. While there are true chiropractic emergencies that doctors should be ready to handle; most of the time the patient is the one who needs to adjust their day, to make time for a visit during true office hours!
Practically Yours,
the PracticalCA
