ASAP List Management

What the ASAP list is: The ASAP list (also called the short-call list or cancellation list) is a maintained, prioritized record of patients who have indicated that they can accept an appointment with little advance notice. When a same-day slot opens because of a cancellation or no-show, the ASAP list is the first line of response. Without it, a same-day cancellation is always a lost hour.

What triggers ASAP list contact: When a same-day appointment is cancelled or the patient does not show, the slot is immediately offered to the ASAP list. This contact should happen within a defined window, within the first 30 minutes of the opening appearing, because the value of the slot decreases as the available lead time shrinks.

What the ASAP list entry must contain:

• Patient name and contact information
• The procedure they are waiting to schedule (so the list can be filtered to procedure match)
• Provider preference if applicable
• Required appointment duration (so the opening and the need can be matched)
• Their stated availability windows (time of day, days of week)
• The date they were added to the list

How to maintain the list: Review the ASAP list at the start of each week to confirm that every entry is still active. Contact patients who have been on the list for more than 30 days to confirm they are still interested and still available. Remove any patient who asks to be removed, who has been successfully scheduled, or who cannot be reached after a defined number of attempts.

Add patients to the list at the point of any interaction where they express scheduling flexibility: “I’ll take whatever is available,” “I really want to get this done soon,” or any indication that they would welcome a short-notice call. Document the entry in the PMS at that moment, not later.

How to work the list when an opening appears: Filter the list to patients whose required procedure matches the available slot and whose duration requirement fits the time available. From that filtered list, contact patients in priority order. Priority is based on: urgency of the procedure, how long the patient has been waiting, and time of day availability.

The contact script is a defined script, not an ad-hoc conversation. It states clearly that a slot has opened, gives the time, and asks whether the patient can make it. If yes, book immediately. If no, thank them, log the outcome, and move to the next patient.

What to log after each contact attempt: For each patient contacted from the ASAP list, log: the date and time of contact, the slot offered, and the outcome (booked, declined, no answer, no longer interested). This log is how the practice knows which patients are reachable and which entries need to be removed.

SOP requirements: The practice must document: the ASAP list fields and where they live in the PMS; the contact script; the response time standard from opening to first ASAP contact; priority criteria; how long to keep an unresponsive patient on the list; and the monthly review process.