CHECKLIST: IMPROVE PATIENT FLOW
Brainstorm with staff 1
Set specific, measurable goals 2
Evaluate staff levels 3
Consider expansion 4
Reduce paperwork 5
Communicate the “why” to staff 6
TO REMAIN profitable in today’s managed care environment, many doctors are faced with the challenge of seeing more patients in less time. For a busy practice, operational efficiency is critical to increasing patient volume without compromising clinical care or the patient experience.
1 BRAINSTORM WITH STAFF
Start by meeting with your staff and expressing your desire to improve patient flow. Identify any problems you have seen, such as long wait times, bottlenecks or patient complaints. Involve your staff members by asking for their ideas. Employees may be resistant to change when it is forced upon them. However, they will be more committed to the process when they are involved in developing the solutions.
2 SET SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE GOALS
Once you and your staff have identified various ways to improve efficiency, set specific, measurable goals. For example, perhaps you have identified the patient check-in process as a bottle neck. One goal could be to move the patient from the front door to the optical within 40 minutes. Some studies have found that if a patient is not in your optical about 40 minutes after entering your practice, you start losing money. Put in place a method to measure this goal, and a follow up at regular intervals to check on it.
3 EVALUATE STAFF LEVELS
Are you adequately staffed? First, make sure your team is as productive as it can be by evaluating each employee. Does he or she need more training or additional resources to do the job better? If your current team is operating at a high level and you are still struggling to keep up with patient flow, it may be necessary to hire more staff. (As discussed last month, a good rule of thumb is one full-time equivalent employee for every $150,000 in collected gross revenue.)
4 CONSIDER EXPANSION
As your practice has grown, has square footage become the culprit? Crowded waiting areas and lack of adequate space can quickly manifest itself in bottlenecks and inefficiencies, which negatively impact both patients and your staff. Consider whether it’s time for an expansion.
5 REDUCE PAPERWORK
Evaluate your forms. As a consultant, this is one of the first things I review when looking for ways to improve efficiency. Could some of your forms be shortened, or even eliminated? Do you need all the information you are collecting? Are there redundancies, such as asking for information on forms that you will ask for in the exam room? Answer the question: How close can I get to becoming a truly “paperless” office?
6 COMMUNICATE THE “WHY” TO STAFF
The goal of improving patient flow is not to shortchange the patient, rather to provide a better overall patient experience and a less stressful work environment. Make sure your staff understands the “why” behind this need for operational efficiency improvements. OM
