Pharmacy

Book Lighter Appointments at the End of the Day

2023-11-27

When using Appointment-Based Pharmacy (ABP) to deliver non-dispensing services, it may be worthwhile to consider the optimal timing for different service bookings.

Longer, more complicated services may be more likely to go over the allotted appointment time, and may require more charting after the appointment to complete the encounter. For this reason, it is best to avoid scheduling them at the end of the day.

Instead, consider booking shorter, more controlled and predictable appointments at the end of the day.

Benefits:

• More likely to end clinic on-time.
• More likely to finish charting on-time.
• Reserves more "in-depth" or "challenging" appointments for times when your clinician battery is more fully charged.

To implement this strategy, work with the person responsible for booking appointments to identify and schedule "lighter" appointments at the end of the day.

Ideas for services to target¹:

• CPAMS followups
• UTI assessments
• Tick bite assessments
• Injection services
• Single-drug renewals
• Bloom followups²

Another consideration is the setting of the appointment — phone appointments may be easier to manage at the end of the day than in-person appointments.

While this might not work for all scenarios — this sets up a "smart default" to use when there are no other constraints on selecting an appointment time.

Note: This idea was inspired by an email conversation with Glenn Rodrigues.