That's perfect! Want to move to Bangor? Of course, I don't think you do peds.
My perfect referral is where I am in the room, the child has a hernia, I message my front desk he needs a surgical appointment after asking whether they prefer morning or afternoon appointments. I can usually tell by the appointment time in my office.
My receptionist calls the surgeon. She is given an appointment. She fills out the appointment card and faxes the demographics and referral. I type a letter while the patient is in the room and print to fax and send it to the surgeon with a cover letter that thanks him for seeing my patient.
The parents walk to the front desk to check out and get the sticker, and my receptionist hands them the appointment card. They are completely in shock. Of course, it doesn't always work that way, but it's awesome when it does. I guess I have no life.
But, they walk out the door with the appointment. The surgeon's office has all of the referral information, and the surgeon has my referral letter on the great AC letter writer.
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One good thing about the surgeon calling the family is it avoids this. And, it can be any consultant, and from what I am reading, I doubt you do this. But, it drives us crazy.
I call the consultant, and they hear the story. They tell me they are booking out a month, but it sounds like this child needs to be seen within the week. They tell me they will tell their staff..."What is the name of the patient?"
We generally give it a few hours to give him or her time. But, at least 40% of the time, they forget to tell their staff, and the appointment we are given is five weeks away. Of course, we tell them we talked directly to the consultant, and it gets fixed.
I do think if I have a good relationship with my consultant, I can sometimes get patients in more quickly. Especially, if I call him or her directly. So, that means quick and thorough referral letters, sending the notes (especially the pertinent ones -- not the plain ones or fax cover sheets or upside down pages), the referral being sent quickly AND the patient actually showing up. I completely despise patients who no show to consults.
