Office hours don't have to be 9-to-5

Practice Management. By Julie A. Jacob, AMNews staff. Nov. 26, 2001.

Years ago, most office workers had little choice about when to start and end their work day. It was a 9-to-5 schedule, period.

Today, however, 58% of employers offer flextime options, according to the management consulting firm Hewitt Associates. Employees can start and end their work day an hour or two earlier or later, or even compress a 40-hour work week into four days.

You can give yourself the option of flextime, too.

Some physicians already are opting for a less traditional schedule.

"Physicians have become more cognizant in the past two or three years of having evening and Saturday hours," said Larry Wolper, president of L. Wolper Inc., a physician practice consulting firm in Great Neck, N.Y. There's a "high percentage of couples where both work, so the number of people coming in during the day has diminished."

The hours that you set for patient visits depend, in a large part, on your patients. If you treat many retirees, it's unlikely that your patients would want to come in during the evening. But if your patients are largely working adults, you may very well find they would welcome the option of an early morning or Saturday appointment, noted Alan Fine, vice president of CHPS Consulting in Chicago.

About a year ago, William Andereck, MD, and his now former practice partner, John Fullerton, MD, both internists in San Francisco, started scheduling Saturday morning appointments. They were a hit with patients, especially busy executives, Dr. Andereck said.

When Dr. Fullerton opened up his own practice, he continued scheduling Saturday office hours. He sees both patients with appointments and those who walk in for urgent care. [...]