New policy initiated for late arrivals to family health, pediatric appointments Published Jan. 19, 2011 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The 81st Medical Operations Squadron is initiating a policy to assist patients who arrive late for appointments in the family health and pediatric clinics through no fault of their own. According to Col. Julia Stoshak, squadron commander, "Patients who arrive within 10 minutes of their scheduled appointment time are not considered late and will be treated as being on time. If there is a line at the check-in counter and patients arrive at the line before their appointment, they will be considered as being on time; the benefit of doubt goes to the patient." The colonel continued, "Patients who are on time should not be penalized due to the tardiness of another. Therefore, patients who arrive more than 10 minutes after their appointment are considered a "no show" but will be offered options." For an acute appointment, the patient is offered the opportunity to be seen during any no-show appointment time when another patient fails to make an appointment or at the end of the day. The patient also can choose to be rescheduled. "For a routine, established or well appointment, the patient can be rescheduled if they choose or the clinic nurse will evaluate the patient's needs as necessary," Colonel Stoshak said. "In any case, the provider has the final discretion regarding patient disposition." Colonel Stoshak added that if the patient feels it is an emergency and needs to be seen right away, he or she can choose to go to the hospital's emergency room. She noted, "Patients have the right to speak with the clinic's patient advocate if they have reasonable extenuating circumstances."