Shift patient loads

If one physician is behind, ask his or her patients if they'd like to see another doctor. This also works well when a physician calls in sick. When that happens, be sure someone calls his or her scheduled patients and describes the situation right away.

One caution: Be aware that one physician may not be able to fill in for another if they're not both signed up for the same health plans. Each plan is different in terms of credentialing non-physician practitioners too—and you can't bill with another physician's number. To solve this problem, make sure you have a complete list of all the plans, showing which providers are credentialed by which plans. Stay on top of this, because plans select and de-select providers frequently.