If you find that you don't get enough done by day's end, take heart. You can accomplish tasks more quickly and efficiently
by identifying and avoiding common time-wasters, experts say.
We asked our practice management consultants how you and your staff can gain more time—to see patients or get done the myriad
other things that must be done every day. The list that follows is based on responses from:
- Geoffrey T. Anders, The Health Care Group, Plymouth Meeting, PA
- Judy Bee, Practice Performance Group, La Jolla, CA
- Keith Borglum, Professional Management and Marketing, Santa Rosa, CA
- Michael D. Brown, Health Care Economics, Indianapolis
- David C. Scroggins, Clayton L. Scroggins Associates, Cincinnati
How many of these tips can you incorporate into your practice? Even one or two could significantly boost your productivity—and
let you get home for dinner on time.
1. Dictate in front of your patients. Doing your dictation at the time of service reduces delays, and helps medical records flow through the office more quickly,
so charts don't pile up. This eases processes from scheduling through billing for your staff, and frees up time at the end
of the day for you. What's more, patients will appreciate hearing your assessment, and can correct you if you've gotten something
wrong. Even if you must make an unflattering observation, chances are you can phrase it in an objective way. Dictate outside
the exam room only when absolutely necessary. 2. Delegate all duties that don't require a physician's license. Examine everything that you do during the day. You may be surprised at how many things you do that you wouldn't pay another
physician to do, like opening mail.
Are you the one asking the patient about the chief complaint, the history of the illness, and the family history? Nurses can
take this information as well as vitals. A mid-level person such as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant can help assess
patients and provide basic care.
If you find yourself educating patients about basic healthcare matters, delegate that responsibility to a medical assistant,
LPN, RN, NP, or PA. Even if you have to hire an extra staffer or increase a part-timer's hours to handle the extra workload,
the increase in your own productivity should offset the higher personnel cost.
3. Move the telephone away from the front desk. There's usually a lot of activity around the front desk of a busy practice. Patients working with the staff there may be
miffed if staff members interrupt them to answer the phone. Instead, phone duty should be a separate responsibility assigned
to one person, or more in a large group practice. Without interruption, a staffer can answer the phones quickly and can more
accurately exchange information with patients.
4. Use patient reminder software. With this software, your computer can automatically dial patients to remind them with a prerecorded message about appointments
and tell them what to bring with them (copay, referral, etc.), how to prepare for a procedure or test, and the like. This
frees your office staff to do other tasks. You can have the computer make the calls after normal office hours.
Two reminder systems to consider are PAM2000 by American Telephony ( http://www.pam2000.com) in Downingtown, PA, and Med-Dial Appointment Reminder, by Innovative Marketing ( http://www.med-dial.com) of Grand Rapids, MI.
Practice Tools
