Yesterday I took my father to the doctor’s office for a 4pm appointment. We waited and waited and then waited some more. Eventually we got in to see the doc around 5:30pm and we were out of there in less than 10 minutes.

I realize that doctors have a lot of surprises in their daily schedules. It’s not uncommon for an emergency surgery to come up (which was the case with my father the day prior). They certainly have very demanding schedules and put in a lot of hours. Tough work.

This may seem on the surface to be one of those “it is what it is” situations. Hmm…do you feel a “but” coming? Yes, yes you do. Here’s the but: as a doc, you could easily account for the unknowns in your day by building it in to your schedule. Plan for them. You know they’re coming. Schedule fewer appointments throughout the day with more space in between. When you have a gap of downtime, call your next patient and ask them if they can come in early (maybe even offer a discount). Convey the message to your patients that their time is every bit as valuable as yours.

My point in this long diatribe is this: it is not that difficult to stand out from the crowd. Observe what everyone else is doing, and do something different. Would you favor a doctor that respects your time, knowing that if you have a 4pm appointment that you’ll be out of there by 4:30pm?

Be different. It’s easy, and it will give you the edge against your competition.