Health Upp Efficiency is essential for every kind of business, including medical practice. Decades ago, healthcare providers depended on hiring smart and organized staff in order to have their practices running smoothly. However, healthcare industry trends have changed. As a result, medical professionals today face different sets of challenges in their practices. Apart from seeking ways to increase their patient satisfaction levels, they need to choose and implement the best technologies in their medical offices to improve efficiency.
Efficiency helps ensure that the activities in your medical office run smoothly. An efficiently-run medical practice will yield higher revenue and have healthier, happier patients and employees. The following tips will show you how to improve efficiency in your medical office.
1. Assess Your Current Patient Journey
Your patient journey is the set of possible events that a patient will likely go through in your facility. It sums up your patients’ experiences throughout the period of care, from when they are admitted to when they are discharged.
Take time to assess the workflow in your medical office by mapping out all the touchpoints before, during, and after medical care. You should also think about the processes you take when there’s a returning patient. This will give you insight into the current operations at your medical office and help you identify areas that need adjustment for a better patient experience.
2. Enable Online Scheduling
In this digital age, most patients are more comfortable with controlling processes digitally. They no longer want to hold off until morning to call a receptionist before booking a slot. If your facility only schedules appointments through phone calls, prospective clients might look for other providers who offer instant appointments. So, put the power of healthcare ownership in your patients’ hands by enabling 24/7 online scheduling of appointments. You can enable the booking on your organization’s website and third-party websites like Zocdoc and Yelp.
Online appointment scheduling will allow you to grow your patient base and make your current patients return for future care in your medical office. It will also help streamline the operations at your front desk since your administrative staff will no longer have to answer phone calls every minute of their working hour. They’ll have time to focus on more important tasks and assist patients who are physically present in your medical office. Also, those patients who still prefer to schedule appointments over the phone won’t have to be placed on hold for long periods since the receptionist will have time to attend to them. And your front desk staff will have fewer scheduling errors.
As part of your move to give patients more autonomy over their healthcare, allow patients to view their medical information prescriptions and scheduled visits online. Also, eliminate possible language barriers for non-English speaking patients through medical document translation services. When your parents can access guides, medical records, and aftercare instructions in languages they understand, they’ll be more trusting of your practice, and they’ll know how to take care of themselves after being discharged from your facility.
3. Cross-Train Your Team
Cross-training is a strategy that involves training each employee on their fellow team members’ tasks, responsibilities, and duties. This type of training is aimed at giving each employee a clear understanding of the entire team function. That way, they’ll understand how their duties and responsibilities interrelate with those of other team members.
So, consider cross-training your employees. This exercise can improve overall teamwork by enhancing interpersonal communication and collaboration. Make it clear that your organization values a culture of teamwork and flexibility and mandate each staff to cross-train a colleague to cover all their duties. Afterward, test out the cross-training exercise with rehearsals where team members cover each other’s desks. You can do this exercise during periods when the office is not so busy.
4. Delegate Simple Tasks
Many healthcare providers are skeptical about delegating tasks because they don’t want someone else to take control of their practice and make errors. But you should believe in your hiring process enough to trust your team. Delegating or outsourcing minor tasks in your medical office can help free up your employees’ workload so they can focus on improving the patient experience.
To ensure that your delegation is effective, carefully consider the tasks you outsource or delegate. Assign tasks to employees based on responsibilities and strengths and take time to teach each person how you want them to execute the tasks you delegate to them. After delegating a task to a team member, let go. Allow them to complete the task independently and come back with results.