What is the main reason for placing a buffer period in a medical office appointment schedule?

Most medical offices use a system of structured or scheduled appointments for office visits.

- Structured Appointments
Each patient is assigned a time on the schedule or allotted a specific period for examination and treatment. The advantage of this system include good time management and optimum use of the office facility. A disadvantage of this system is that a patient may need more of the physician's time than you have scheduled.

- Clustering
Is grouping patient appointments with similar problems or needs. Advantages to clustering include maximum use of special equipment, ease in maintaining control of the schedule, the ability to provide many patients with information about their particular situation at the same time, and efficient use of employees' time.

- Wave or Modified Wave
Outpatient medical facilities may use the wave scheduling system or modify the wave system in ways that work for their particular specialty. With the wave system, several patients are scheduled the first 30-minutes of each hour. They are seen in the order that they arrive at the office. The second half of each hour is left open. This technique works well in large facilities with several departments giving medical care.

- Fixed Scheduling
Fixed scheduling is the most commonly used method. It divides each hour into increments of 15-, 30-, 45-, or 60-minutes. The reason for each patient's visit will determine the length of time assigned.

- Streaming
Is a method that helps minimize gaps in time and backups. Appointments are given based on the needs of the individual patient.

- Double Booking
Two patients are scheduled for the same period with the same physician. This works well when patients are being sent for diagnostic testing because it leaves time to see both patients without keeping either one waiting unnecessarily.

- Flexible Hours
Offices that operate with flexible hours are open at different times throughout the week. Patients still have scheduled appointments, but this greater range of availability appointment times better accommodate work and family schedules. Your main challenge with flexible hours is to determine which patients really need to be scheduled for these special times.

- Open Hours
A medical office that operates with open hours for patient visits is open for specified hours during the day or evening. Patients may arrive at any time during those hours to be seen by the physician in the order of their arrival; there are no scheduled appointments.
Open-hour scheduling, however, has some clear disadvantages:
-- Effective time management is almost impossible.
-- The facilities may be overloaded at some times and empty at other times.
-- Charts may be pulled and prepared as each patient arrives.

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