The Importance of Strategically Using Time-Saving Techniques

If you register for an appointment, wait your turn patiently, get seen by the doctor, then hand in a lab order and come back later for the results to get a prescription, the whole waiting process is incredibly long.

So, if you know the ropes, you go straight to the doctor and tell the person currently being treated, "I just need the doctor to write a lab order—I'm not here for a consultation."

This hardly delays anyone behind you. The doctor writes the order, swipes the card, hits confirm, and it takes less than 10 seconds. Once you have the order, head to the lab queue. While you're waiting for the results—which takes time—you can also join the appointment queue.

See what I mean? By getting lab work done first, you can parallelize waiting for results with waiting to be called. That alone can save you nearly an hour.

Of course, you can speed things up even further. With more experience, we started booking both specialist and general appointments, whichever queue moved first.

It's necessary to make smart use of every time-saving trick available.