(5) Sick call. In some clinics, definite hours are designated for dental sick
call. In others, dental sick call patients may report to the clinic at any time during duty
hours. In either situation, provisions are made to care for emergency cases at any time.
Sick call is mainly used for dental emergencies, but, in some clinics, the time may be
used for routine dental examinations.
2-20. MANAGEMENT OF APPOINTMENT SCHEDULING
a. A Method That Works. The dental specialist must be accurate in scheduling
appointments. The appointment should be recorded in the appointment program first, to
include name, last four digits of the social security number, phone number, unit, and
status. After that, the dental specialist should print the patient an appointment slip. If
the appointment slip is completed first, the dental specialist might forget to make the
proper entry in the appointment book. This could result in more than one patient
reporting for treatment at the same time.
b. Minimizing Broken Appointments. Broken appointments occur in all dental
clinics and result in depriving other patients of badly needed treatment. Every
reasonable measure should be taken to minimize broken appointments. The dental
specialist can help by accurately recording changes in appointments and by impressing
upon the patient the importance of keeping appointments. Some clinics forward
duplicates of all appointment slips to the unit headquarters of military members to get
the commander's assistance in assuring that appointments are kept.
2-21. DENTAL SICK CALL
DD Form 689, Individual Sick Slip, (figure 2-2) is used by military personnel
reporting on sick call to a dental or medical treatment facility. The sick slip is normally
initiated by unit personnel, but may be initiated by the dental officer under certain
circumstances. Normally, after examination and treatment, the dental officer indicates
the disposition of the patient on the DD Form 689, which is then returned to the unit
commander.
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