In today's world, most business and medical practices do not suffer from being too efficient in their operations. In fact, many medical practices suffer from bottlenecks and redundancies that waste time and energy. These inefficiencies fall into several practical areas, such as the front office, back office and the physician responsibilities. Below are key areas to focus on in order to improve procedures and reduce waste.

Front office issues

The first area of focus is the front office, which is where patients experience their first interaction with your practice. The phone system, reception area and other front office functions need to be running smoothly and efficiently.

  • Phone System
    When the phone system is inefficient, patients become irritated and the completion of work by staff members is hindered. Consider how many phone lines you have and how many employees are responsible for them. Expecting an employee to staff more than two phone lines at a time may cause a slow-down. If you utilize a phone tree in your practice, pretend to be a patient and call your office to ensure that there are not too many options and that the options make sense.
  • Messages
    In addition to the phone system, you should consider how messages and other communications, such as texts and emails are handled. Computerized systems can work well as long as there are methods in place to handle communications. For example, some practices color-code messages based on sender and message content—one color for sick patients and another color for pharmacy refills.
  • Paperwork
    Many practices use paper intake forms. To improve efficiency, consider sending the paperwork ahead of time for patients to fill out prior to arriving at appointments. Even think about computerizing intake forms by utilizing laptops or tablets. Depending on the method used, make sure your practice has an efficient method for backup of data or storage of paper files.
  • Appointment Confirmations
    Confirming appointments definitely decreases the number of no-shows and is achieved through many different methods, such as automated phone calls, texts or emails. Many patients prefer an actual phone call, but the other methods should be used in conjunction with a call whenever only voicemail is reached. Studies show that phone calls one day ahead of time give too close of a notice, while calls approximately three days ahead of time are perfect.

Back office problems

Maintaining a well-oiled machine in the back office protects patient records and encourages practice growth through referrals.

  • Charting
    Although electronic health records (EHR) and other programs permitting physicians to use tablets and pull-down menus may resolve many charting problems, other work is still required in order to maintain efficiency and accuracy of files. Staff members should ensure that tests results and referrals are recorded in patient charts prior to appointments. In addition, staff should prepare themselves for appointments by looking at charts for refills, screenings or preventive activities that may be upcoming for a patient.
  • Tests and Referrals
    Think about how your practice handles tests and referrals. Is someone assigned the responsibility of completing paperwork when tests are required? If particular tests are required on a regular basis, consider pre-printing order sheets. Implementing timelines laying out when tests or consultations need to take place can be helpful. These timelines should be communicated to staff members to enable them to better schedule appointments.

Physician Responsibilities

Although the front office and back office should run smoothly and efficiently, physicians are ultimately the ones responsible for setting the tone that encourages and maintains an efficient practice.

  • Start Time
    According to many consultants, a physician should strive to be at the office at least fifteen minutes prior to the arrival of the first scheduled patient. This gives the physician time to prepare for visits by reviewing paperwork, lab tests and patient histories.
  • Standardization
    To further increase the efficiency of your practice, consider making a structured schedule for duties and activities that you follow daily. Having a haphazard schedule becomes disruptive in a medical practice.

By focusing on increasing a practice's efficiency, physicians can improve patient care and further profitability. Over time, this ultimately results in an increase in the satisfaction of both patients and staff members.

Health Care Group Newsletter – Winter 2019

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.