Everyone's time is precious, but when it comes to a busy medical practice, time is of the essence when you have to manage patients, doctors and everyone else in between. While managing time will not be the easiest of tasks - it is the most essential.
In the recent Clinic to Cloud 2020 Survey: Building a Better Practice Beyond COVID-19 respondents cited the biggest challenge experienced over the past six months was time management 43%. The report revealed some simple, smart time saving tips medical practices can implement to help drive efficiency, streamline and scale.
Automate mundane tasks
It is often reported that one hour of patient time equals two hours of administrative work. While in some cases, doctors cannot see fewer patients, particularly amidst a pandemic, they can, however, gain considerable efficiency when it comes to automating the administrative component.
For example, using a cloud-based medical practice software, that automates some of the repetitive admin tasks such as appointment reminders and letter writing, allows healthcare practitioners to offer quality, patient-centred care while gaining back many hours wasted in unnecessary administration.
Save time with the cloud
Administrative tasks such as payment processing, forms and templates, and the never-ending paper pile of tests, referrals and imagery can all be managed seamlessly online through the cloud. This saves considerable time at the clinic for both the patient and administrative staff.
Cloud technology also gives medical professionals the flexibility to manage clinical and practice notes anywhere and on the go. On top of this, the clinical decision support is real-time, with the cloud giving professionals access to the latest studies, medications and medical information quickly at the point of care.
“To me, time is your most precious commodity, and I want to be able to use it functionally,” says Obstetrician, Gynaecologist and Director of Women's Health Road, Dr Talat Uppal. “And so now, if I'm operating and I have time between patients, I can actually use Clinic to Cloud to review results, I can write letters - I can use that time very productively because I have all the information at the tips of my fingers.”
Encourage patients to be more empowered in their health journey
Practices can be encouraging their patients to use a patient portal, giving them access to book and manage appointments themselves and see their test results. This means less time on the phone for both doctors and practice staff.
“I chose Clinic to Cloud over other providers because it gave me the option of a Patient Portal, which I have found personally to be very positive, because we can actually communicate with our patients in a secure digital context about their care,” Dr Talat says.
Streamline telehealth consults
Clinics that are offering telehealth need to need to be aware that often this caused even more paperwork. Having a streamlined cloud clinical and practice management software that’s integrated with your telehealth facility can help alleviate a lot of the administrative burden and streamline the consult process.
Fast-track patient communication with voice recognition
Voice recognition technology is also a big time-saver for clinics, with some clinics reporting a 30% increase in productivity thanks to this incredible innovation. Doctors can simple dictate into an app, which then transcribes the dictation into a letter.
“I dictate the conversation I had with the patient right after their consultation,” Associate Professor Peter Illingworth of IVF Australia says. “I like the fact that I can now leave at 5.30pm and have no letter backlogs at work. This means I feel less pressure. Voice recognition technology has definitely made my life easier.”
Read more insights in Clinic to Cloud’s recent survey, 2020 Survey: Building a better practice beyond COVID-19. Download your free copy here.
