PROCEDURE WORKFLOW
APPOINTMENT CANCEL, NO SHOW AND RESCHEDULE PROCESS
The purpose of this job aid is to instruct end users how to process appointment cancellations, no shows and
reschedules. All end users are responsible for following the below workflows when cancelling, setting a no show
status, or rescheduling appointments. Medical Assistants are responsible for completing any follow-up actions
from a patient case.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
REQUIRED ACTION DURING ANY PATIENT INTERACTION ....................................................................................... 1
ACTION FOR FUTURE APPOINTMENT CANCELLATION - PATIENT REQUEST (Not Rescheduled) .............................. 1
ACTION FOR FUTURE APPOINTMENT CANCELLATION - PATIENT REQUEST (Rescheduled) ..................................... 2
SAME DAY ACTION FOR APPOINTMENT NO SHOW – ABLE TO RESCHEDULE .......................................................... 2
SAME DAY ACTION FOR APPOINTMENT NO SHOW – UNABLE TO RESCHEDULE ..................................................... 2
FUTURE ACTION FOR APPOINTMENT NO SHOW – APPOINTMENT PROCESSING WORKLIST .................................. 3
APPOINTMENT CANCELLATION REASONS .............................................................................................................. 4
REQUIRED ACTION DURING ANY PATIENT INTERACTION
1.
2.
Access the patient’s Appointments through the Quickview screen. Confirm that the patient does not have any
existing appointments or ticklers pending. This is an opportunity to confirm appointments or schedule
pending ticklers.
Access the patient’s full Appointment History. Confirm the patient does not have an existing appointment or
that he/she does not have an appointment in a No Show status. This is an opportunity to reschedule the
appointment.
ACTION FOR FUTURE APPOINTMENT CANCELLATION - PATIENT REQUEST (Not Rescheduled)
1. Access the patient’s Appointments through Quickview. Confirm patient does not have an existing
appointment or tickler pending. Note: An alternative is to access the patient’s full Appointment History.
2. Locate the appropriate appointment to cancel.
3. Single click Cancel or Reschedule (Figure 1).
4.
Figure 1
Select the appropriate Reason for Cancellation (PATIENT CANCELLED) (Figure 2) and add appropriate notes.
Figure 2
5.
6.
7.
Single click the Cancel Appointment button (Figure 2).
Access the patient’s Briefing screen to create a New Patient Case.
Create a New Patient Case, informing the physician’s Medical Assistant of the canceled appointment, of
actions taken, and if any follow-up actions are required. The Medical Assistant will inform the primary
nephrologist and take any further necessary action.
PROCEDURE WORKFLOW: APPOINTMENTS
REVISED: 5/2/17
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ACTION FOR FUTURE APPOINTMENT CANCELLATION - PATIENT REQUEST (Rescheduled)
1. Access the patient’s Appointments through Quickview. Confirm patient does not have an existing
appointment or tickler pending. Note: An alternative is to access the patient’s full Appointment History.
2. Locate the appropriate appointment to cancel.
3. Single click Cancel or Reschedule (Figure 1).
4. Select the appropriate Reason for Cancellation (PATIENT RESCHEDULED) and add appropriate notes.
5. Single click the Reschedule button (Figure 2).
6. Search for and select a new appointment date to complete the scheduling process.
Note: If one or more of the following conditions exist create a New Patient Case informing the physician’s Medical
Assistant of the rescheduled appointment. The Medical Assistant will inform the primary nephrologist and take any
further necessary action.
-
The patient is rescheduling the appointment to a date further than 2 weeks from the original appointment
date.
The patient has rescheduled the same appointment multiple times so that it is now currently out more
than 2 weeks from the original appointment date.
The patient has test results available that indicate they should meet with their physician as soon as
possible.
SAME DAY ACTION FOR APPOINTMENT NO SHOW – ABLE TO RESCHEDULE
1. Access the patient’s Appointments through Quickview. Confirm patient does not have an existing
appointment or tickler pending. Note: An alternative is to access the patient’s full Appointment History.
2. Locate the appropriate appointment to reschedule.
3. Call the patient and offer to reschedule appointment, if able to reschedule follow below actions
4. Single click Cancel or Reschedule Appointment (Figure 1).
5. Select appropriate Reason for Cancellation (PATIENT NO SHOW) (Figure 3) and add appropriate notes.
6. Single click the Reschedule button (Figure 3)
Figure 3
7.
8.
9.
Reschedule the patient appropriately.
Access Patient’s Briefing screen.
Create a New Patient Case informing the physician’s Medical Assistant of the no show, of actions taken, and if
any follow-up actions are required. The Medical Assistant will inform the primary nephrologist and take any
further necessary action.
SAME DAY ACTION FOR APPOINTMENT NO SHOW – UNABLE TO RESCHEDULE
1. Access the patient’s Appointments through Quickview. Confirm patient does not have an existing
appointment or tickler pending. Note: An alternative is to access the patient’s full Appointment History.
2. Search for the appropriate appointment in the Appointments section.
3. Call the patient and offer to reschedule appointment, if unable to reach the patient, follow below actions
4. Single click Cancel or Reschedule (Figure 1).
5. Select the appropriate Reason for Cancellation (PATIENT NO SHOW) (Figure 4) and add appropriate notes.
6. Single click the Cancel Appointment link (Figure 4). Note: This action prompts one athena communicator call
reminding the patient of the no show and asks they contact the office to reschedule.
PROCEDURE WORKFLOW: APPOINTMENTS
REVISED: 5/2/17
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Figure 4
7.
8.
Access Patient’s Briefing screen.
Create a New Patient Case informing the physician’s Medical Assistant of the no show, of actions taken, and if
any follow-up actions are required (Figure 4).
a. The Medical Assistant will make two additional attempts by phone
b. After the two additional unsuccessful attempts by phone, the Medical Assistant will mail the Appointment
Tickler Letter (created via a new order group).
c. Note: Athena Live Operators do not reconcile appointment no shows and ticklers. The Medical Assistant is
responsible for reviewing the patient appointments and ticklers to removing duplicate ticklers (if an
appointment has been scheduled).
9. If unsuccessful in reaching patient to reschedule by phone and once the Appointment Tickler Letter is mailed,
continue to Future Action for Appointment No Show – Appointment Processing Worklist section.
10. Recreate the appointment tickler for 1 month in the future (prompting athena communicator calls)
FUTURE ACTION FOR APPOINTMENT NO SHOW – APPOINTMENT PROCESSING WORKLIST
The No Shows? column of the Workflow Dashboard provides a number of “no-show” appointments in a particular
department awaiting action.
1.
2.
3.
Access the Workflow Dashboard
Select the appropriate No Show? column for the desired department
Select the correct patient name from the Appointment Processing Worklist (Figure 5)
4.
5.
Figure 5
Select appropriate Reason for Cancellation (PATIENT NO SHOW) (Figure 6)
Single click the Cancel Appointment link (Figure 6)
Figure 6
6.
Select Create appointment tickler (Figure 7) by setting the “Approximate date” in 1 month and adding
appropriate notes (Figure 8). The tickler will prompt an additional automated call through Athena
Communicator.
Figure 7
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REVISED: 5/2/17
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Figure 8
APPOINTMENT CANCELLATION REASONS
Using the appropriate Cancellation Reason to cancel or reschedule a patient appointment supports reporting and
patient tracking processes. Below is a list of the Cancellation Reasons that should be used when cancelling and
rescheduling appointments.
PLEASE NOTE: If the cancellation is made the same day as the scheduled appointment the Cancellation Reason
used should not be changed if the circumstances of the cancellation are found to be different at a later date. For
example, if the reason used is “Patient No Show” and then the next day the patient calls and says they were in the
hospital the “Patient No Show” reason should not be changed.
Cancellation Reason
Condense Schedule
Reason for Use
The appointment is being rescheduled to maximize the appointment availability for the
day.
-
Used when an appointment is moved to open up consecutive slots to allowing for the
booking of longer appointment types.
Used to reschedule appointments in order to condense them into morning or
afternoon slots.
The appointment is being cancelled due to the patient being in the hospital on the day of
their scheduled appointment.
Hospitalization
-
Used when patient provides notice prior to the start time of their appointment that
they need to cancel an appointment due to hospitalization.
If the office is not notified of the hospitalization until after the start time of the
scheduled appointment the “No Show” cancellation reason should be used.
This is to be used when the patient initiates cancellation of an appointment and does not
want to reschedule.
Patient Cancelled
-
Used when patient provides notice prior to the start time of their appointment that
they need to cancel the appointment and do not want to reschedule.
If the office is not notified until after the start time of the scheduled appointment the
“No Show” cancellation reason should be used.
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REVISED: 5/2/17
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Cancellation Reason
Patient Rescheduled
Reason for Use
This is to be used when the patient reschedules an appointment prior to the start time of
their scheduled appointment.
-
Used when patient provides notice prior to the start time of their appointment that
they need to reschedule the appointment.
If the office is not notified until after the start time of the scheduled appointment the
“No Show” cancellation reason should be used.
This is to be used to cancel current day and future appointments for a deceased patient.
Patient Expired
-
Office is notified of deceased patient either before or after the start time of the
scheduled appointment.
This is to be used when the patient does not show up for their scheduled appointment.
Patient No Show
-
Used when the patient made no attempt to contact the office to cancel or reschedule
prior the start time of their scheduled appointment.
The appointment is being cancelled per physician request due to the service no longer
being required.
Provider Cancelled
-
Used when the physician directs staff to cancel’s a patient’s appointment because
recent lab results indicate or other diagnostic data indicate that appointment is no
longer necessary.
Used when the physician directs the patient to the hospital after the patient has
presented for an appointment – in this case no Encounter is documented.
The appointment is being rescheduled to another date per provider request.
Provider Rescheduled
-
Used when the patient has shown up for their appointment but test results are
unavailable or a procedure cannot be performed.
Used when the physician makes this request prior to or on the date of the scheduled
appointment.
The appointment is being cancelled because the provider is unavailable.
Provider Unavailable
-
Used when an appointment is cancelled or rescheduled due to a physician’s illness, or
personal emergency, jury duty, etc.
The appointment is being cancelled and not rescheduled as it is not medically necessary
due to the patient regaining function.
Regained Function
-
Used when a scheduled appointment is cancelled due to the patient regaining their
function and no longer needing the appointment – typically used by the Access
Centers.
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REVISED: 5/2/17
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Cancellation Reason
Scheduling Error
Reason for Use
The appointment scheduled was incorrect and should never have been on the patient’s
schedule.
-
Used when the wrong patient was used to schedule the appointment.
Used when the correct patient but wrong appointment type was selected when the
appointment was scheduled.
Used when the correct patient but wrong department was selected when the
appointment was scheduled.
The appointment is being cancelled prior to the start time of the appointment because the
patient does not have transportation to the appointment location.
Transportation Issue
-
Used when a patient reschedules a same day appointment (prior to the start time)
informing the office that they do not have needed transportation to get to their
appointment.
The appointment is being cancelled and rescheduled because the patient is unable travel
to the appointment location due to weather conditions
Weather Conditions
-
Used when either the office closes due to weather conditions.
Used when a patient calls the office prior to the start time of their appointment to
reschedule their appointment due to weather conditions.
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