Solo practitoners face challenges that are unique to our breed. Coverage is always an issue and we must continuously balance self-time with availability.
Yesterday I spent the day at The US Open watching tennis. My office remained open and staffed and the phones, as always, went answered. My staff are non-medical types and will never answer medical questions. They simply take messages, prepare e-scripts for me to finalize, schedule patients, and track down claims. When doctors or patients need to speak with me, my staff knows to contact me immediately. But when I am court side at the US Open, cell phone etiquette often makes doctoring problematic.
Here's how I did it:
Fun.
Yesterday I spent the day at The US Open watching tennis. My office remained open and staffed and the phones, as always, went answered. My staff are non-medical types and will never answer medical questions. They simply take messages, prepare e-scripts for me to finalize, schedule patients, and track down claims. When doctors or patients need to speak with me, my staff knows to contact me immediately. But when I am court side at the US Open, cell phone etiquette often makes doctoring problematic.
Here's how I did it:
- Phone set to silent mode
- Staff sends text messages with pertinent information
- Blue tooth in ear enables talking on the phone in an inconspicuous manner
- Text messages back to staff with instructions on how to respond
Fun.
