Late Patients

Late patient procedure:

• Any patient requesting emergency medical treatment or presenting with a medical condition or complaint that requires immediate attention will be referred to the SJH emergency department.

• Special Cases: Very few exceptions will be made to the above policy.  Front office staff will use their discretion with assistance of provider as needed.

• Exceptions (the following will be seen regardless of late status):

  1. Infants less than two months.

  2. Sick visit children less than two years old.

  3. Pregnant women.

• If an established or new patient is 11 minutes late or more, their appointment may be rescheduled. If a patient arrives within 10 minutes, they will be seen.

• If another appointment on the same day at a later time is available, the patient will be educated regarding the late policy and offered that next available time slot. 

  1. Appointments should be offered in the following order: same day, same provider, same team, different team

  2. If patient is rescheduling, cancel the appointment that the patient is late for, and put in the reason for cancel “Late Patient”.  Select reschedule from the Cancel Appts screen. Reschedule the appointment.

• Note: New Patients will be requested to arrive 15 minutes before the start of their first appointment.  If the new patient is late, they will be rescheduled for a different day.

Updated February 2024