Selecting Visit

Type

For Appointments

🧠 Ask Every Patient:

“Have you been seen by any of our doctors before?”
“Have you been seen for this injury before?”

🗓️ Scheduling Best Practices:

✅ Spread appointments across the week — don’t overload single days.
✅ Bunch appointments closely throughout each day (avoid large gaps).

💉 Injection Follow-Ups:

Must be scheduled at least 10 days after their injection appointment.

New Patient Slot:

-Patient has NEVER been seen at VSON
-Patient has not been seen in over 3 years (Spine 1yr for Raub & Braxton)
-Patient has new Injury or seeing a NEW provider

*Update New Patient Tracking sheet

Follow-Up Slot:

-Patient needs to be seen for same injury with same provider
-Same Day FU's go in regular FU slot

- Post Operative appt's

Acute NP/Same Day:

Patient was Injured within 24-48 hrs and needs to be seen

MRI Review: state Laterality (R, L, B/L)

See patient MRI Referral for specific instructions

**Second Opinion Protocol**

Purpose:
To make sure we gather all needed information when a patient requests a second opinion, so we can give the best possible care.

Questions to Ask the Patient:

Is this appointment for a referral or a second opinion?
Have you been seen before for this issue?
Have you had surgery for this issue?
- If yes:
  - When and where was the surgery?
  - Who was the surgeon?
What imaging has been done (X-ray, MRI, CT, etc.)?
- Get the date, location, and type of imaging.
- Request reports for all imaging.

For urgent issues:

Were you seen at Urgent Care or the ER?
- If yes, collect those details too.

What to Document:

Appointment Scheduling:

Try to schedule the visit far enough out to allow time for gathering all records.

General Notes:

Document all patient-provided info clearly.
Confirm the patient understands they need to bring all relevant records to their appointment.

Phone Note:

Send a phone note to the appropriate team with all the info gathered.

Patient Follow-Up:

Ask the patient to call before the appointment to confirm that we have received all their records.

✅ REASON TAB MUST BE COMPLETELY ACCURATE:

1. Visit Type (Choose ONE):

NP = New Patient FU = Follow-up
EST NI = Established New Injury (*only if patient has been seen in clinic within 3 years – 1 year for Raub & Braxton patients
NP2DOC = New Patient to Doctor - New Provider same body part
MRI Review(FU) = Reviewing MRI
FS = Follow up Surgery

2. Body Part:

Capitalize first letter only (e.g., Knee, Shld, Wrist, Ankle)
Laterality is CRITICAL – clearly state Right (R), Left (L), or Bilateral (B/L)

3. Format Examples:

NP R Shld
FU L Ankle
EST NI L Knee
NP B/L Wrists
MRI Review R Ankle

⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTES:

Be specific – What are we actually seeing them for?
Include injury mechanism, if known (e.g., “fell while hiking,” “twisted during basketball”).
List any images or reports they have – very important to bring to appointment.

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