More Than Half of ECPs Leave Unscheduled Time in Their Schedules

question

Do you or don’t you leave unscheduled time in your schedule?

Yes: 52%

• Our office states we are closed from 2pm on Tuesdays. Twice a month I use this time to volunteer but the other days I use the time to catch up. We often use it for book work and inventory. — K Elizabeth B., Springfield, IL
• Weekly meetings that last for one hour. — Mark P., Orlando, FL
• Pay bills, look at numbers, and consider new things to implement. — Steve W., Wayne, PA
• I keep two 30-minute slots open most days to spend either decompressing after busy patient schedules or to realign my thoughts to have a productive rest of my day. — Justin T., Pittsfield, MA
• At the end of the week I’ll spend an hour or so. It’s to focus on how the week went and what I’d like to accomplish in the ones ahead. — Jordan F., Baltimore, MD
• Admin time is crucial and I build in a block of time Wednesday mornings. Every hour I spend thinking, planning and training on the front end saves me multiples of hours on the back end. — Scott M., Christiansburg, VA
• A full schedule of low value clients isn’t ideal. Whenever the schedule fills up and we start to book out we drop our lowest payer. We narrow our targets as we grow which leaves time to address issues in the office as they occur, meetings, etc. — Jason K., Phoenix, AZ
• I may open up the schedule and see patients, but it’s meant for admin time. — Douglas H., San Angelo, TX
• Tuesday is Rotary at lunch time so that’s blocked. But there are days we leave an hour or two open to get caught up. — Jennifer L., Dansville, NY
• Typically reserved for meetings as well as marketing strategy, a.k.a. gathering social media content. — Ashley S., East Aurora, NY
• Now that we are consistently booked out 3-4 months, we have learned to block a LOT more time than we used to! Some of it’s to prioritize patient care of higher urgency, some of it’s to make sure essential tasks get done, and some of it’s just to preserve our whole team’s sanity. You can always open up and fill time that’s been blocked; you can’t always create time out of the void. — Jen H., Sandpoint, ID
• Meeting with vendors. Opening office for “special” clients so we are not interrupted. — BJ C., McQueeney, TX
• We do not see routine patients on Wednesday. My intern and I are there for emergent care only. At this time we catch up on accounts receivables, prior authorizations, patient calls, updating EHR software, EHR Education, and reviewing charts. — Robert E., Oakland Park, FL
• Really this blocked time is for business responsibilities but it is reserved for the things that can’t be handled in the day-to-day flow of the office or for larger single tasks that need to be completed less often. I have a half day set aside per week although it often gets filled with meetings and basic chart completion for at least part of the time. — Zachary D., Saint Peter, MN
• Mental health improvement for myself and staff. I use it to catch up on things outside of work. — Kimberly R., Ligonier, PA
• Correspondence, planning, admin, payroll, bills. — Kathryn C., Lititz, PA
• Reports and orders. — Richard F., Wildwood, NJ
• Weekly we block off either a whole day on Thursday or half a day. This gives our employees time to catch up on things that they haven’t had time too during the week. This also gives the doctor time to catch up on charts. — Emily C., Charlotte, NC

No: 48%

• Delegate. — Steve B., Milwaukee, WI
• Our workflow outside of patient care is very fluid, so we try to keep from scheduling (or not) until and unless it is absolutely necessary. — Pablo M., Atlanta GA
• Since my dispensary is on a walk-in basis, I can usually work things in between people. Or have my employees cover for me while I’m tied up. — Robert L., Jefferson City, MO
• I don’t intentionally block out time however I am here 2-3 hours before anybody else. This allows me to stay caught up on lab work and time to work on custom frame orders without the added daily distractions. — Travis L., Logan, UT
• I wish we accounted for unscheduled time … it’s hard to keep up with all the “extra” projects and tasks while simultaneously conducting normal day-to-day business. — Christine H., Plainville, MA
• This is a practice I plan to start in the new year. It has been difficult in “pivoting” my time appropriately without scheduling time for all things needed. It is also helpful to track your time and for future planning. — Colby S., Dothan, AL