Running On Time?

Do you measure whether or not you are on time based on finishing your clinic at 5:00? If so, you are an inwardly focused business. Now, how many of your patients would say you are on time? Results for many patients surveys nationwide report that "wait time" is their number 1 complaint about their doctor. In fact, of all the various metrics used to measure patient satisfaction, wait time rates the poorest....consistently. Most service industries strive to be outwardly focused. That is to say, these businesses are focused on providing the best in customer service possible to ensure customer retention and future sales. Medical practices should be doing the same.

There are many tactics you may choose to improve your overall efficiency, but simply implementing without first knowing the cause is like doing surgery when the patient presents with a cough. Surgery may be indicated, but it probably is a decisions reached by first understanding the cause of the cough.

Medical practices, like many businesses, look to improve revenues by adding patients to the schedule. Certainly this is a reasonable solution, provided you have the capacity in terms of physical space, adequate staff and proper provider scheduling to execute that plan. I would suggest you first invest in a professional flow and efficiency evaluation. This evaluation reveals efficiency leaks that rob you of productivity and potential practice revenue.

About a year ago, I was asked to conduct such an evaluation for a fairly busy dermatology practice. While the evaluation revealed several areas for improvement, their biggest inefficiency came from medical assistants answering patient phone call regarding biopsy reports, blood tests, etc. Here, the recommendation was to hire another staff position, preferably an RN, as the phone nurse. Her responsibility was to field patient's phone calls and to add an extra level of expertise in the back office. At first the physician felt that adding another staff position, an RN no less, was a budget breaker. After determining the improved efficiency that allowed the doctor to see 2 extra patients per day, AND, improve overall wait time, the practice realized a cost pay back in just a few months. All revenue after that fell straight to the bottom line. In this case, the practice realized an additional $75,000 in revenue after expenses. Not bad!

More than anything else, you have the opportunity to improve your patients experience when they visit your practice. You also have the opportunity to begin and finish your day with greater satisfaction. Your patients and staff will appreciate it.