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Group appointments have their benefits

Practice Management. By Mike Norbut, amednews staff. Jan. 27, 2003.

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It's the age-old dilemma for a busy physician. There just isn't enough time in the day to meet the demand of patients, and five minutes in the exam room just isn't long enough to sort through their complicated problems.

Family physicians Cliff Fullerton, MD, and Kimberly McMillin, MD, certainly faced that issue in their own North Garland, Texas, practice. So they decided to offer group medical appointments, an idea that is slowly gaining momentum.

Efficient? Definitely. Enjoyable? For both patients and physicians, the doctors say.

But profitable? Not yet.

Drs. Fullerton and McMillin, the two busiest physicians at Family Medical Center of North Garland, part of the Baylor Health Care System, started using the drop-in group medical appointment model about four months ago. A 90-minute group appointment is offered once a week and designed to accommodate between 12 and 15 patients.

The appointments are offered to returning patients with chronic conditions, like arthritis, hypertension or diabetes, or those with a nonemergency need, such as a sinus infection. A nurse takes everyone's vital signs and patients are asked to sign a confidentiality waiver.

While the term "drop-in" is used, patients are asked to register in advance, so the office knows how many people to expect. The doctors alternate in running the appointment on a weekly basis, and they have plans to expand it so they each have a weekly group appointment, once the idea generates more interest.