Patient Needs

A patient is checking into her appointment at the front desk and is hysterical about being late for her appointment. She provides an excuse for her tardiness and requests that she sees the doctor immediately because she has another engagement right after the appointment. Due to her being late to the appointment, her wait time to see the doctor has been extended to a point where she becomes hostile about waiting longer. She uses vulgar language to express her dismay over the wait time, she insults you and everyone at the front desk to let off some steam and claims she will provide a bad review of her experience and will name you as part of the problem.

Using what you have learned in this topic, how do you manage this situation to solve this problem? Your objective is to calm down the patient, put her at ease and get her into the appointment without hysteria in the office.

Break down the problem by doing the following (in order to successfully complete this Milestone, your answers must include examples, quotes, or indirect quotes from the Learning Activities covered in this Topic):

1. Classifying the problem/goal. Is it generic? Is it exceptional and unique?

2. Defining the problem. What are we dealing with?

3. Specifying the answer to the problem. What are the “boundary conditions”?

4. Make the Decision. Deciding what is “right,” rather than what is acceptable, in order to meet the boundary conditions. What will fully satisfy the specifications before attention is given to the compromises, adaptations, and concessions needed to make the decision acceptable? What does the action commitment have to be? Who has to know about it?

5. Evaluate. Testing the validity and effectiveness of the decision against the actual course of events. How is the decision being carried out? Are the assumptions on which it is based appropriate or obsolete?