"It just seems if a child with a 103 fever and cough (looks well -- probably routine) were to be asked to reschedule, it would open you up to all sorts of issues. We had a case in Maine once where a college student walked into a doctor's office c/o symptoms (not even a patient). They turned her away. She died the next day in Influenza A pneumonia. We could argue that one as far as the responsibility goes."
Agree you have to practice with caution. And the well being of the patient needs to come first. I may be digressing from the discussion but I believe its worth kicking the tires on this. The front office needs to develop the skill to discern between a complaint that can be life threatening from one that is not. From my perspective the "RED FLAG LIST" ain't that long and should be both memorized by the front office staff and posted in the front office. Also the policy should not IMHO be one that captures every penny owed. Having such a rigid policy will lead to problems. There should be flexibility based on each individual case. This being said I believe the majority of those who owe are not Red Flag Cases. Also when a patient can not be seen for what ever reason. You should not turn the patient away but offer an alternative such as presenting to the ER/Urgent care, or a discounted cash clinic with caveat being that if it is a red flag issue you inform the patient that their symptoms may represent a life threatening condition and they should present to ER immediately and offer them to call 911 on their behalf. If the patient is an established patient the office should follow up to insure patient has presented to ER. So for instance when a patient calls to schedule all "Red Flag Issues" are not scheduled but referred to ER right there and then. So if a patient wants to schedule for chest pain, acute neurological symptoms, acute headaches, new onset abdominal pelvic pain and yes fevers in children which can't be seen that day, we refer those and all other Red Flag issues to ER.
Dru
