Page 64 - Avoiding Surgical Mishaps Part 1

SVMIC Avoiding Surgical Mishaps: Dissecting the Risks

A patient portal may also offer options designed to facilitate

appointment management. The physician may opt to only allow
the patient to view existing appointments but not allow a patient

to schedule or cancel an appointment without contacting the
office. Patients find portals convenient and time-saving. Verify

that the patient’s appointment view is enabled so they may
view all of their appointments on the portal. If your protocol

is to ask patients to speak with an office staff member for
appointment scheduling, enable a standard patient response

to a patient’s attempt to schedule, reschedule, or cancel an
appointment via the patient portal. A team member should

promptly review all patient attempts to schedule, reschedule,
or cancel appointments via the patient portal. Allow the team

member to email an acknowledgement from the practice and
a confirmation of the patient’s requested actions or alternative

suggestions.

If the patient portal allows the patient to self-schedule an
appointment, the convenience to the patient should be weighed

against the potential for an urgent condition to go untreated
for an extended period of time. If the patient is allowed to self-

schedule appointments, incorporate language outlining urgent
or emergent conditions to seek immediate care. Outline other

conditions when the patient should not self-schedule and
should instead call the office for an appointment.

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