Hit late doctors where it hurts in the wallet
The buck-a-minute game
Maybe you’ve tweaked the schedule all you can you’ve sent out appointment reminders, recorded no-shows, started a modified wave scheduling system and still you have people waiting a long time in your office. The culprit appears to be tardy doctors. You’ve told them about the problem, and they’ve promised to be on time. But they’re still late from the start of the day to the end. What can you do?
"I suggest the buck-a-minute game," says Keith Borglum, vice president of Professional Management & Marketing, a Santa Rosa, CA, medical consulting firm. "If any staff member catches a physician going into his first patient visit late, that physician is charged a dollar a minute."
The money collected, Borglum says, goes into a holiday party kitty, and it must be paid in full, in cash, immediately, or the fine doubles. "People hate to pull out their wallets," he says, "and the effectiveness of this punishment is that it is close to the wallet."
Physicians who participate in the game are forced to think about how to avoid a penalty, Borglum says. And every morning, they have to be sure they have enough cash in their wallets to cover any fines.
"Physicians lose two to three dollars for every minute they are late," Borglum explains, adding that the calculation is based on an average primary care physician billing $30,000 per month, collecting $24,000 per month, and working 240 hours per month. "For specialists, the costs of being late double or triple. Playing this game brings that reality home."
Borglum says that all the practices he has suggested this to have seen one of two things occur either there is immediate improvement from the physicians, or a doctor cancels the game. "Doctors have to understand that the schedule is the most important thing. Without it, there is no billing," says Borglum. "It has the most impact on the profitability of the practice."
• Keith Borglum, Vice President, Professional Management & Marketing, Santa Rosa, CA. Telephone: (707) 546-4433.
• Will Latham, President, Latham & Associates, Charlotte, NC. Telephone: (704) 553-9479.
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