#theVIPExperience Post #1: Steve Walden

I applied to the Crossroad VIP program thinking “what have I got to offer this program?” As a non-traditional student with limited volunteer/community service experience I suspected that I might not fit in and match the needs/wants of the program. What I did have was extensive experience in retail customer service as well as familiarity with the electronic health record as a medical scribe. As it turns out, these skills are just what you need to be a VIP.

As a VIP your first responsibility is to feel comfortable making “cold calls” to patients who may or may not need help scheduling specialty appointments. This initial VIP presentation should be a positive experience for the patient who should feel confident that the VIP team will be able to help them arrange specialty care at a location and time reasonably convenient for them to attend.

Next comes the call to the specialty office. The VIP will navigate the phone tree and eventually come in contact with the scheduler. You had better be ready with all of the patient’s information: name, DOB, address, phone #, reason for referral, and oh yeah, these schedulers will sometimes throw you a curveball or two.

Now, if you have successfully run this gauntlet and scheduled a workable appointment for your patient, be ready for the rapid-fire round of appointment details and important information. Have your pen and paper ready for not only the date and time but also the address, floor, suite #, office #, fax # and list of things the patient should bring such as photo ID, insurance card and list of current medications. You had better get it all down accurately the first time, it would not be very professional or courteous to make the scheduler repeat him or herself.

Now, you call the patient back and give them the good news! You have successfully scheduled their referral! And the bad news…they had better get a pen and paper for all of these important details. Please, future VIP, please do not quickly run through these important details like the scheduler. Make sure you pass this important information along accurately and methodically so that the patient can get it all down, it’s their appointment after all.

You’ve scheduled the appointment, you’ve shared the news with the patient, time to pat yourself on the back for a job well done, right? WRONG! Now you must document, document, document, etc… Be sure to include all of the important details on the referral calendar so that your fellow VIPs can make reminder calls. Now you’re done, right? NO! You must document the appointment as scheduled in orders management; be sure to include all of the important details so that other Crossroad employees can view the info. Finally, that’s it, right? WAIT! Don’t forget to document the telephone call as a patient communication, mark the referral in the VIP binder, and leave any extra notes for your team members in the communication log.

Whew, excellent referral work! Now it’s time for another…

-- Steve Walden