It’s vitally important to be accessible and available to your patients when they most need you, as this helps improve their trust and reliance on you. However, there are obstacles that can get in the way of achieving this goal. Everyone needs time away from work, for one, and you may also just have such a high volume of patients that you can’t respond to each one regularly. Here are some solutions that you can employ in order to overcome these challenges.
Develop a Routine
Creating a routine that’s sustainable is key in being able to meet all of your expectations on a daily basis. Work on ways that you can eliminate your downtime during the day. For example, walking from one side of the building to the other wastes time that could otherwise be spent with patients. Have your staff help you with organization to avoid these types of situations from occurring. Budget time in your day to handle emergencies so that you don’t get backed up.
Utilize Remote Services
For patients that aren’t able to get in to see you or to cut down on transit time, you can employ remote strategies. This could come in the form of electronic messages or even screen time consultations. Giving your patients another venue for communication may cut down on unnecessary appointments. Make sure to have all of the patient’s information in front of you so you won’t have to rely on the patient telling you. This allows you to see more patients each day.
Employ Paging Options
There will come times when an emergency arises during off-hours or even when you’re with another patient. Using a virtual receptionist or medical answering service helps you to stay connected. Some of the better services will perform triage functions so that you can deal with the important patient concerns in a timelier manner. Another solution is to wear a pager so that you can be made aware of a crisis even when you’re out of the office or otherwise engaged.
Delegate Tasks
Delegating some of the mundane tasks to other members of your staff can help to cut down on the amount of time that you’re doing busywork. For example, a physician assistant can handle some of the more routine questions of your patients. This will allow you to know that your patients are being taken care of even when you aren’t available. Appropriate training will help your staff to handle these matters and give you that level of confidence that you need to do your job effectively. For delegation to work effectively, you also need to stand up for your staff. If a patient insists on seeing you and you end up telling them exactly what your staff did, tell them that in the future they can trust your staff’s advice. This will help patients to depend on your staff in the future.
Healthcare professionals need to use their resources to their best advantage for patient care. Use these tips to help you be there for your patients in the more effective and efficient manner. This will help you be a more dependable and reliable medical professional.
Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan
