Is double-booking the answer to no-shows?

Benjamin Brewer, a family physician and online columnist, is up to his ears in patients, yet nearly every day he finds himself idled by patient no-shows.Brewer writes in his latest column that a recent study found doctors increase the efficiency of their practice by double-booking appointments, in the same way that airlines oversell seats. Just as a commercial jet flies even when some passengers don’t check in, the “overhead meter for the office keeps running whether patients show up or not.”

Of course, double-booking would mean he’d usually be running late, because most patients do show up for their appointments. Other options have their downsides as well — billing patients for missed appointments isn’t allowed for Medicare and Medicaid patients, and calling to remind patients they’re supposed to come in ties up Brewer’s receptionist.

No-Show Patients Exact a Daily Toll [Via The Doctor’s Office - The Wall Street Journal]

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