The idea that clinic efficiency and patient retention directly correlate is well known, but putting it into action is another matter. Patients trust clinics which are well organised and competent, but clinics can also be busy and chaotic places. Clinic managers have to juggle admin tasks as well as deal with nervous patients and troubleshoot emerging issues, whilst sole practitioners can struggle to balance time treating patients with the inevitable paperwork and administrative tasks that go alongside.
Research shows that patients want more attention and time in their appointments, and practitioners too would rather prioritise face to face time with their patients, instead of rushing appointments in order to fulfil their other responsibilities. In conclusion: the only way to spend more time with patients is to become more efficient as a practice. And it’s not only patients who will benefit, since improved efficiency will reduce staff burn-out by allowing a better work-life balance, as well as boosting revenue.
Improving your clinic’s efficiency will require planning and commitment from your entire team, but your efforts will pay dividends. By forming regular habits everyone can stick to, you can ensure efficiency is a priority on an ongoing basis. So, if your clinic is regularly running behind schedule, and you’re constantly fighting a state of chaos, read on for the top habits of efficient clinics.
1. Planning ahead
This is by far the most important of all habits to adopt in your clinic, and one that every member of staff can incorporate into their week and/or day. Depending on your role and responsibilities, this may take many different forms. The aim is for each patient to be met by an organised and well prepared member of staff at every step, whether that be when they arrive at reception, or when they enter the treatment room. Setting time aside to view the diary for the upcoming day and individual patient notes will help you foresee any issues and prepare for them. e-clinic makes it easy to create and manage diaries for people, rooms and equipment, and cloud-hosting means the whole team can access these wherever they are, including from home. Multiple diary views give choice to the user: for example, your receptionist might want to see all appointments for the day, whereas a practitioner will likely only want to see their own.
2. Offer online bookings and payments
So much of the time wasted in clinics is down to late arrivals, no-shows and delayed appointment starts. Luckily, there are some really effective ways to reduce this wasted time, which will be of benefit to both you and your patients. Offering online bookings is a really effective way to reduce no-shows and tardiness, since patients are able to access their appointments schedule when it suits them, and make changes too. Charging for an initial consultation, even if this charge is redeemable against treatment, is also a great way to gain commitment from your patient. With e-clinic, payments can be made online, which not only reduces admin, but also improves your clinic’s cashflow. Allowing online booking and payments also frees up your phone lines and your receptionist’s time too.
It’s also a good idea to incorporate any pre-appointment time into the appointment, rather than asking patients to arrive early for form filling, taking blood pressure or blood tests etc. So for example, if the actual appointment time is 9.00am but there’s about 20 minutes worth of pre-appointment, set the appointment time for 8.40am. That way the patient is more likely to arrive on time at 8.40am rather than if you asked them to simply arrive 20 minutes early for a 9.00am appointment. You can also save time by sending forms electronically in advance by email or weblink. e-clinic makes it easy to design your own consent forms for electronic signature and email those forms to the patient for completion in advance.
3. Make every second count
The most efficient people learn the habit of squeezing small tasks into small amounts of time throughout the day. For example, if you find an appointment or meeting runs five minutes short, use that time to reply to a couple of emails or complete a piece of paperwork. You’ll find it far easier to get into this habit if you have the right software available to you, especially if it’s accessible to you wherever you are.
Secure cloud-hosting is part of the package with e-clinic, meaning the data you need is held in the cloud and accessible from your clinic, your home, or even on your daily commute – anywhere you have a laptop or iPad and a broadband connection. This will allow you to make the most of the in-between moments to complete tasks: for example using Siri to dictate notes, with a full medical dictionary to back you up; or make use of e-clinic’s integration with CloudRX online pharmacy to create a prescription for speedy delivery of medication direct to your patient.
4. Keep paperwork to a minimum
We all get set in our ways, and sticking to pen and paper is a common habit that it may be time to give up. Moving to become a paperless clinic may seem daunting and time consuming, but in the long run it will be far more efficient, not to mention all the physical resources you’ll be saving. Consider asking patients to complete forms electronically too, whether in advance by email or weblink, or when they arrive at the clinic using a tablet. You can also save considerable time by dictating your notes and completing clinical forms and charts electronically.
5. Type as you talk
This may well be the trickiest of all habits to learn, but it will certainly save you a great amount of time if you master it. In order to maintain eye contact with the patient during their appointment, you’ll first need to be able to ‘touch type’, without looking at the keys or the screen. It is a good idea to arrange the furniture and computer in your reception or treatment room to help with this, so that you can type on the keyboard and look directly at the patient at the same time. You need only type an outline of your notes so that the framework is there ready to be polished up after the appointment, but this will reduce your note taking time considerably.
6. Foster teamwork
If one member of your team is consistently struggling to keep on top of their workload, it should be considered an issue for the entire team to help deal with. Being efficient isn’t just up to one person, but requires everyone in the team pitching in and being efficient with their own tasks. If the balance seems wrong then it’s worth considering a rethink about which member of the team is responsible for which tasks and whether some responsibilities need to be moved around. It’s in everyone’s best interests to help out when needed, but if everyone is over-stretched all of the time, then perhaps it’s time for your team to grow.
7. Embrace technology
Getting to know the software available to you and everything it offers may take a little time, but you’ll save an awful lot more time than you put in. It’s well worth setting aside time for training when you have. a new starter or if your regular software is updated. Regular refreshers are also valuable to ensure that everyone is getting the most out of the software. Using templates for forms and emails, and setting tasks and reminders can save hours over the course of a month. Communications such as replies to website enquiries and targeted text campaigns can also be automated with e-clinic. Larger clinics and groups may wish to link e-clinic to their call centre, to allow outbound call management of telesales campaigns.
8. Keep track
Efficient clinics know the importance of seeing the bigger picture. Reporting and analysis of key performance indicators can make you more effective. Spend a month or two tracking the flow of patients through your clinic to get an idea of when your patient load is at or over capacity, so you can make any necessary adjustments. e-clinic offers a full reporting suite to allow you, for example, to review how many patients come through the clinic each day, how much time they spend with each practitioner, and which days are busiest.
e-clinic includes a comprehensive suite of reports, including ones covering enquiries, appointments, treatments, financial data and patient demographics. From this information you can work out which staff are the most efficient and address any areas where there’s still room for improvement. Reporting information can be exported to Excel for further analysis, or e-clinic can be linked to third party reporting tools to take a deep dive into your data.
Whilst it’s important to work as efficiently as possible in order to provide the best level of care to patients, it’s also important not to strive for more efficiency for efficiency’s sake. When well balanced, efficiency will improve patient satisfaction and avoid staff burn-out, but be careful not to let it come at a cost. If it comes at the expense of quality care then it’s time to re-evaluate. When you’re working to create new habits to improve efficiency, ensure you continue to check that your processes still align with your clinic’s goals and ethos.
