More On Rating Patients: Some ODs Like The Idea, Others Don’t
I continue to get good, thoughtful feedback on the pros and cons of ‘rating’ patients.
Again, I neither endorse nor condemn the concept. You have to decide what works best in your practice.
Here are some more comments from my readers.
Dear Jerry,
We don’t rate patients now, but it makes a ton of sense to me.
I don’t see anything unethical about providing more conveniences to a select few, as long as the care is the same for all and emergency care is the same for all.
‘Natural Selection’ will eventually fill your practice with A rated patients and weed out the C rated ones over many years.
Dennis Rabe
Rating System Has The Potential To Do More Harm Than Good
Dear Jerry,
Ultimately, I fear that rating patients has the potential to make them feel just as bad as when they rate us.
Yes, I love to have a good rating. But, if I just visited a practice and bought a value package frame for my kids and myself, since that was all I could afford, should I be either not rated or rated poorly?
When it comes down to it, shouldn’t every patient be treated the same? I realize some are buying products that others aren't, but ultimately they are all our patients.
And we all long ago took an oath to take care of those patients, no matter their faults, issues, attitudes or financial status.
I hate when patients no-show, cancel at the last minute or show up late. I also hate when patients take their glasses prescription with them and only use my services.
However, if I consistently give excellent care to all, no matter how much they spend, how nice they are, or who they are, my office will have a reputation of perfection in service.
David Anderson
Dear Jerry,
We do better by not rating patients and just try to do what is best for each person every time in fulfilling their needs and desires… which changes over time.
We use to use tab codes to code patients. We use TAB products and used the following:
1. Every three letters of the alphabet uses a different color file to make it easy to find files.
2. Every file label has last name, first name and middle initial (since we have multiple patients with the same name), their office ph, cell ph, and home ph… we used to put their SS # on the file, but do not do so any longer.
3. We used three sets of number codes on the edge of the file:
a. One number to tell us whose patient they are
b. One number to tell us what patient type (insurance, private, hi-mid or low-end… what they asked for)
c. Type of patient (SV, BF, NL, CL, LSK, GLA, etc.)
While this did give staff a heads-up on who was coming in, it also was a detriment since staff would learn who to see and who to ‘pawn off’ on the other employees.
Never brand a patient or you will not meet all their needs.
Shaw Yorizane, Jr., OD, FCOVD
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Disclaimer: The information and opinions contained on this site are for discussion purposes only and are NOT intended to serve as legal, accounting or investment advice. ©2009 Jerry Hayes, OD. Not to be reproduced without written permission of the author.
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Dear Jerry; We rate patients
Dear Jerry;
We rate patients strictly for marketing purposes. Rating patients has nothing to do with whether or not we would offer different levels of care, rather when trying to market to patients with direct mails, etc., it only makes good business sense to limit your marketing dollars that will bring the best return on the investment.