Seven Factors to Make Your Primary Care Run More Smoothly

We all want our medical offices to run as efficiently and smoothly as possible. Unfortunately there are things that inhibit this from happening. There are some simple steps you can use to keep your practice running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. By adding in a few organizational strategies and daily habits, you can reduce some of the stress created by unexpected and challenging problems that may pop up from time to time.

We all want our medical offices to run as efficiently and smoothly as possible. Unfortunately there are things that inhibit this from happening. There are some simple steps you can use to keep your practice running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. By adding in a few organizational strategies and daily habits, you can reduce some of the stress created by unexpected and challenging problems that may pop up from time to time.

Seven Considerations to Make Your Primary Care Run As Smoothly As Possible

1. Improve access

• Patients should have the ability to see their primary care physician easily.
• Hospital admissions or readmissions that are unnecessary or avoidable should be kept to a minimum.

2. Efficient Testing

• Ensure that all patients referred for testing have completed that testing.
• Review test results in a timely manner.
• Clearly convey test results and what they mean to your patients.
• Use evidence-based medicine to decide whether or not to do further testing.

3. Referrals

• Patients need to follow through when you make an urgent referral.
• Get information on your patients from the specialists to whom you make referrals and then review it.
• Communicate with your patients about specialist assessments and recommendations.

4. Back-up Systems

• Have a system in place to follow up on tests and referrals when a clinician is not available.

5. Automate When Possible

• Utilize temperature monitoring systems and other methods to allow your staff the ability to focus on patients, and not manually logging data.

5. Use an Online Scheduling Tool

• It takes an average of 8 minutes to schedule each and every appointment. Online scheduling is a huge time saver.

6. Social Barriers

• Make sure your patients can afford the medications you prescribe.
• Assess the social factors that could lead to patient safety events.
• Offer appropriate and competent support for patients with limited English proficiency.

7. Workplace Culture

• Make sure your team feels appreciated, respected, and acknowledged for their hard work.
• If there is a near miss or a safety event, provide a safe environment that encourages team members to report such issues to management.
• Have a culture focused on improvement of the  system instead of individual blame.