After my speaking gig at the UCA Autumn Conference in Birmingham, England this evening, I decided to leave the hotel for dinner at one of the dozens of restaurants surrounding the hotel.
After approaching the third restaurant and getting turned down, either due to an extraordinary long wait (I could see empty tables) or the lack of a reservation (half the restaurant was empty) it dawned on me. I’m not a desirable dinner patron!
Imagine that. My wallet stuffed with expensive pound notes and credit cards at the ready, it turns out that being by myself was a liability. Being Saturday night, and right before the symphony across the street was to begin, I represented half the profit that could be obtained from a couple sharing the table I wanted.
As I was walking back to the hotel to order room service, I started thinking about your practice. Do you have undesirable patients? Do you have times of the day in which certain types of patients are well, unwelcome? If you don’t, maybe you should.
If that sounds repugnant to you, then you’re probably also inclined to put so-called “emergency” patients ahead of regular, appointment-honoring patients. What signal does that send? Do emergency patients provide a greater thrill or opportunity for you to show off or demonstrate your compassion? Is it worth it to destroy your scheduling with an unscheduled conquest and stress out your front desk staff and make your existing patients wait? Are you more interested in a stranger than me?
Maybe it’s not an emergency patient. Perhaps for you it’s the patient that is a hypochondriac. Or the whiner. Or a stinky patient. Patients, that even though you profess to love like your others, are given less than 100% of your time or attention.
A better question: Are you being a good steward of your time and talent by accepting patients that cause you to compromise the care you give others? Fortunately, this is a decision that only you can make!