A mother arrives in the office around 11:00 a.m., demanding an appointment immediately for her child, who is quiet but alert. The child has been seen before. The mother states that the child has a temperature but denies nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or other signs or symptoms. The office has been busy all day, with several interruptions calling the physician away. The provider will be seeing patients in the afternoon, and there are a couple of same-day appointments available on your schedule. You offer her an appointment for later that day, but she insists that it must be NOW. 1. How do you handle this situation? 2. What ramifications are possible if you are unable to handle the situation successfully? 3. What other type of scheduling method could help the clinic avoid needing to double book a patient in the future? How would this other scheduling method help?
