I haven't had a day so slow in months. Particularly with a partner on maternity leave, our office's volume has felt like a cold and flu season compared to the usually light summer months. We have certainly never been a high volume office; typical work load ranges between 20-25 office visits a day. Occasionally we'll hit 30.
Yesterday I saw 18. It was nice. There just seemed to be something civilized about it. I had time to exchange a limited amount of small talk with patients, my chart notes looked a little more polished, and I even had time to look up a couple of journal articles.
I'm not sure I would ever want to dip too far below this number, however. Aside from the obvious financially implications that keep us seeing the volumes that we do, seeing only 10 patients a day I may find boring. I know some, however, like those in low overhead or retainer model practices who feel this is really the perfect number.
Ah, but alas there is the dollar. We must pay our staff, the light bill, rent, and ultimately ourselves despite shrinking reimbursements from an increasing number of patients without insurance, underinsured , or on Medicaid.
Yesterday I saw 18. It was nice. There just seemed to be something civilized about it. I had time to exchange a limited amount of small talk with patients, my chart notes looked a little more polished, and I even had time to look up a couple of journal articles.
I'm not sure I would ever want to dip too far below this number, however. Aside from the obvious financially implications that keep us seeing the volumes that we do, seeing only 10 patients a day I may find boring. I know some, however, like those in low overhead or retainer model practices who feel this is really the perfect number.
Ah, but alas there is the dollar. We must pay our staff, the light bill, rent, and ultimately ourselves despite shrinking reimbursements from an increasing number of patients without insurance, underinsured , or on Medicaid.
The Country Doctor