As a doctor, you obviously understand the need for your profession or you would not be in it. Until the day comes that illness is eradicated, there will always be a need for the medical field. Unfortunately, sometimes the need for physicians outweighs the number of physicians who can help.
This sets up the necessity for much more efficient running practices. In order to get help to everyone who needs it, doctors, nurses, and associated staff must find ways to shore up the time it takes to get from a need to a treatment. Below are three ways you can make your practice run a little smoother and deliver treatment to a greater number of people at the same time.
Delegate
As an attending physician, we understand that each and every patient is important to you and that their health is one of the essential reasons you have for existing. This is why you must understand that you simply cannot do it all. You must have help.
Now we are not insisting that you don’t have the skills to do it all, but if every aspect of a patient’s care were your responsibility, you would never be able to attend to more than six or seven patients in any given workday. Therefore, you should learn to delegate. Only complete the work that others are not qualified to do.
For the rest of it, take advantage of nurses, nurse practitioners, and your clerical workers. Working as a team with a leader who is unafraid to delegate reduces the stress on everyone and offers your patient a more comprehensive visit.
Use Technology
Technology has evolved to help out countless fields. The medical arena is hardly the least of them. It seems there is a new invention helping our men and women in the medical profession every month.
The introduction of the robotic nurse is making a big splash in some children’s hospitals and the fact that doctors can now send prescriptions to the pharmacy without the need of a script pad saves time, money, and helps lessens mistakes. Another way technology is helping make a physician’s practice more efficient is through the adage of EHR systems.
An electronic health record, or EHR, allows the doctor to keep track of every detail in a patient’s medical history. Everything from how tall they are to what they are allergic to is included in this electronic record. The fact that it is kept up with on a computer also allows for the fast and easy transfer of records to other doctors and hospitals if needed.
Written Communication
Have you ever played the rumor game? You start by telling one person a secret. Then, they turn around and tell the person next to them in line. This continues until the secret gets to the last person in line. In most case, you will find that the secret you began the game with has transformed into an entirely different event.
This is because spoken communication is easily corrupted. In a doctor’s office, that can mean disaster, to say the very least. A patient could receive a treatment that would have absolutely no effect on his/her illness, or worse, might receive the attention that could create a possibly deadly situation to arise. Make sure to keep order in written form. Use forms that offer easy ways to communicate what you need to be done for each patient.
Doctors are necessary for the health and well being of the population. Use the tips above to make sure your practice offers the most efficient way of providing that help.
