Ghost patients no way to stay on schedule

Physicians who find appointments at day's end canceled or no-shows because they never were filled to begin with should address scheduling problems.

By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. Aug. 4, 2003.

If you're chronically late with appointments, have you sometimes noticed that the last few scheduled patients of the day don't show up?

It may not be a coincidence.

Staff members of overbooked, overworked, or just plain slow physicians have been known to schedule dummy appointments to give the appearance of a full schedule, only to have the fake patients "cancel" or not show up.

The practice may be appreciated by other staff members who want to get home at a reasonable time, and you may even be grateful at the time for having a long day cut short. But if that's happening in your office, there's no doubt it's costing you money, consultants said.

"Since most of the costs for a practice are fixed, one or two patients added a day can really make a difference," said Judy Aburmishan, partner-in-charge of the health care industry division for Friedman, Goldberg, Mintz & Kallergis, LLC, an accounting and consulting firm based in Bannockburn, Ill.

Aburmishan said she was visiting a physician client when she overheard the receptionist tell a patient that the first appointment wasn't available for several days, when in reality, there were late-day slots open before then.

"It would make her day longer," Aburmishan said. "When you work, you want to be able to get off when you expect to, and if they plan to work 40 hours a week, they don't want it to be 50 or 60."

The problem for physicians is that many don't have the time to keep a close eye on the daily schedule, and few have an accountability system, such as a fine for patients who don't show up or cancel without sufficient notice or a software program to track missed or late appointments.