THE REASONS

Have patients complained because they had to wait a long time to be seen, or they felt the exam process took too long? Running a practice is a delicate balance between being “thorough” but still respecting the patient’s time.

While this won’t apply to every patient, my general recommendation is to get the patient from front door to optical within about 40 minutes. If we target total time in the practice to be one hour (a reasonable time frame), that gives adequate time to shop the optical.

IMPLEMENTATION

To improve office efficiency, consider the following:

• Track the average time it takes for patients to get to the optical
• Have a manager observe the process, looking for bottlenecks or inefficiencies
• Involve the staff by asking for their input and ideas
• Make the necessary changes and track the results

Change management is difficult and staff will often resist change, so be sure to communicate a compelling “Why.” In this case, the “Why” could be a less stressful work environment and happier patients. OM