That last-minute cancellation

Editor's note: Dr. Doniger's column, Dental Diaries, appears regularly on the DrBicuspid.com advice and opinion page, Second Opinion.

Our office is not tied to an answering system, per se. We still call in for messages the old-fashioned way, by checking with the remote access to our voice mail.

This morning, while making my breakfast at 6:15 a.m., I called in to see if there were any emergencies to deal with. To my surprise, we had a phone call from one of our most reliable patients, canceling his 7 a.m. appointment. He had called late last evening, well after I had gone to sleep.

He had a great excuse (don't they all?). He is a high school principal and had scheduled a teacher appreciation breakfast at the same time. With the amount of overseeing and managing a high school principal has to do on a daily basis, it is no wonder that schedules become doubled booked. Even in this age of mobile digital personal assistants, there are still occasions when we forget to include a meeting or appointment and have a time conflict. I have done it myself.

What to do? Make the best of the situation. I called my dental assistant, who was getting her own high school student ready to leave the house. I left a voice mail for our business manager to inform her we will have a later start today. I found myself with an extra hour to get my day better organized. I did some laundry, then went to the grocery store to get a head start on dinner. I was also able to catch up on my journal reading.

With this economy, we have become more accustomed to the "new normal" schedule. With a few more gaps in our day, we have been able to do other housekeeping tasks that we may have not had the time to do in the past. I am not saying I enjoy having a patient cancel at the last minute. It affects bottom-line production. But what can you do? Getting upset with your patient, business manager, or systems does nothing but expend bad energy. It will turn the rest of your day into a mess.

My patient did reschedule. This is always a good thing. It's the ones who cancel last-minute and you are never able to reconnect with them for a new appointment that drive me crazy, but that's another diary. On this beautiful spring day in Chicago, with an extra hour before starting my day, I was able to enjoy the sunshine, get a few items off of my "to do" list, then gratefully return to my regularly scheduled patient day.

Sheri Doniger, DDS, practices clinical dentistry in Lincolnwood, IL. She has served as an educator in several dental and dental hygiene programs, has been a consultant for a major dental benefit company, and has written for several dental publications. Most recently, she was the editor of Woman Dentist Journal and Woman Dentist eJournal. You can reach her at [email protected].

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