Increasing Office Efficiency

The top five tips you need to know for running your office correctly

As a physician, you have many responsibilities, from patient care to business management. A well-run practice provides peace of mind, increased revenue, and happier patients. However, finding that path to a smoothly operating and efficient office is not easy.

This article will provide tips that I have found helpful and pertinent to a productive office space. These tips include a thoughtful blend of embracing new age technology coupled with reasonable ole bedside manner, quality of care, and improved patient experience.

1. Online Scheduling - as a mother of three, it is often difficult to have a free minute to make a phone call, much less finagle through work and school schedules to find a mutual time and date while talking to an office team member on the other line. Having online Scheduling is helpful to the patient. It lessens the load on your administrative team, allowing those team members to focus on physically present patients in the office. Of course, patients can still call the office to ask essential questions, but this will decrease calls and scheduling errors.

2. Provide online email and text reminders - this will drastically reduce the number of missed appointments and no-shows. Further, if a patient needs to cancel, you can easily have a link sent for a reappointment reminder. 

3. Modernize new patient paperwork and X-ray appointments - providing the patient an online platform to complete new patient paperwork or sending this via mail weeks in advance allows the patient to complete these questions at home while reviewing medications, all at their leisure. I have also found it helpful to schedule patients 15 minutes early for an “X-ray” appointment before their appointment time. This strategy allows the physician to remain on schedule as closely as possible. 

4. Better your break room - what keeps the office running? Staff! Workplace burnout is both bad for your employees and your profit margins. Providing a welcoming environment offers your staff a small getaway from patient demands and a relaxing place to eat lunch or unwind. This update can be as minor as a sofa and a single brewer coffee machine. Your staff and their well-being will be an investment in your practice.

5. Cross-train employees - this proves to be a “well worth it” practice that will pay off long term. It does require an initial investment and learning curves, but a well-trained employee will be able to fill in when a coworker calls off sick, and another is on vacation. Investing in training and development shows your practice values the culture of flexibility and teamwork. Delegating your office manager the task of ensuring each employee cross-train a colleague over time (possibly at slow times like midsummer/Christmas) to cover duties increases appreciation of each important office role that allows the office to run smoothly. 

These tips will provide the physician with the path to a more efficient and productive practice coupled with a thriving work environment. Furthermore, including staff in monthly meetings and valuing team feedback is equally successful in encouraging better practice management and better patient care. Remember, anything that is worth chasing takes time and enthusiastic support. Working toward the goal of efficiency will provide stamina to propel forward in this ever-changing field we call health care.