Overcoming Workflow Bottlenecks
Traffic Jams Can running the right reports improve workflow bottlenecks in Dr. Ben’s practice? “Mrs. Wilson!” Pam said, looking up as Carmen came through the door. “Did I hear you talking about me?” Carmen asked her husband playfully. “I was hoping you could come to lunch with me.” “Dr. Ben was talking about our workflow bottlenecks,” Pam put in. “Workflow matters,” Carmen said. “And I think you also should be talking about scalability. Naturally you pay full attention to one patient at a time, but for the sake of the practice you have to be able to look at the big picture and identify the bottlenecks in your workflow.” Pam was silent. “We’re speechless,” Ben said. “I’m glad to see you, of course, but I have no idea what you’re talking about right now.” Pam darted a glance at the patients around them and welcomed a new patient. “Should we be discussing these things in front of them?” she asked quietly when she was free again. “It’s business,” Carmen shrugged. “Your practice is growing because you give your patients excellent care. So you want to continue doing that. How could they object?” She stepped behind the desk and looked over Pam’s shoulder. “For example, can you run a report that shows all the tasks that are coming up tomorrow and who is assigned to do them, and what tasks are still left from today?” “Honey, I don’t think you should be–” Ben began, but Pam stopped him. “I’ll just pull up the list of reports I can run,” she offered. “There’s no sensitive information there.” “There sure are a lot of reports!” Carmen said, her eyes widening. “New Patients, No Shows, No Future Appointments–” “There are lots of patient reports,” Pam agreed, scrolling down the page, “and then we also have things like Inventory, Billing, Patient Balances, Third Party Vendors…” Ben joined them in staring at the screen. “Is that going to help us identify bottlenecks in our workflow?” “I only run a few of them,” Pam admitted. “Mostly, I don’t really know how to set them up the way I want or how to use them once I run them. I think they’re open to interpretation, too, because sometimes they make me think we should do something but the partners don’t agree — sorry, Dr. Ben!” “That’s okay,” he said. “I know what you mean. Often we partners don’t agree with each other, either. It’s like we’re all looking at different information.” “Reports like these are for analysts,” Carmen said firmly, “not for doctors and nurses. You can’t expect to look at a couple hundred lines of a Tasks and Events report and see what you need to do next.” “Plus,” Pam added, “it’s hard for me even to figure out which report to look at. If we’re talking about how smoothly the work goes, I know that a lot of the tasks we do involve multiple aspects of the practice, not just one of the things listed on those pre-made reports.” Ben took his wife’s arm. “We’ll get out of your way now, Pam,” he said, “but thank you for your help.” “How much time do you spend on those reports?” Carmen asked her husband as they walked. “Hardly any,” Ben shrugged. “As Pam said, I don’t really understand how to use them. Plus, I don’t exactly have lots of free time — and I’d rather have lunch with you.” Can running the right reports improve workflow bottlenecks in Dr. Ben’s practice? Disclaimer: For HIPAA compliance, all characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental.
And… action!
By Reuven Lirov Practice management software ensures your movie has a happy ending. What belongs on Ben’s list of must-have features for practice management software? “Do you remember,” Ben asked his wife, “how you were saying that lines in the parking lot made it easier to park cars?” “Wow,” Carmen answered, “I must have been feeling very deep and philosophical that day.” She was scrolling through the local movie offerings on her phone. They had a babysitter lined up, and she was planning to enjoy a rare date night with her husband. “It was kind of deep,” said Ben. “You were talking about how it’s easier to change a situation than to change the people in the situation.” “Oh, right — we were talking about the issues at your office, right?” “Yes, and I’ve been thinking that maybe this new practice management software might help.” He stared into space for a moment. “Well, okay, to be completely honest, I’ve been thinking that maybe I’m just no good at this, but today I’m entertaining another possibility.” Ben looked into his wife’s eyes. “Am I fooling myself?” “Not at all!” Carmen spoke passionately. “Just imagine if I had to run the pizzeria without my fancy industrial dishwasher and my computerized ticketing system. What if I had to milk sheep and make cheese by hand and grind flour and cook in an oven in the courtyard.” “Sounds picturesque.” “It would be back-breaking labor. They say our modern appliances even in a home kitchen are the equivalent of having several extra pairs of hands to help. The industrial appliances make all the difference.” “I can see that,” Ben agreed. “So why shouldn’t having the right tools make all the difference in your practice, too?” Carmen asked triumphantly. “So how will I know the right tools when I see them?” “Let’s make a list.” Carmen opened an app on her phone. “You need something complete — not a bunch of different programs that might not work together.” “Been there and done that,” sighed Ben. “It has to be a turnkey solution that won’t require an IT department, because I don’t have one. But it has to work for all the people I do have. We don’t need information silos or duplication of efforts across the team, and we don’t want to be delayed if someone is out of the office.” “Training would be good,” said Carmen, adding a note to the list. “Effective training,” Ben specified, “with real human beings to answer questions if we happen to have any.” “It would be great if you could access it on your phone,” Carmen pointed out, “in case of emergencies.” “Or even in case of date night,” Ben smiled. “Shoot that list to me and let’s pick a movie. I can smell the popcorn already!” What belongs on Ben’s list of must-have features for practice management software? Learn more about the Genesis Practice Management features. Update on the Practice Management features of Genesis Chiropractic Software.
Hanging In
By Reuven Lirov Office unease leaves practice owners dangling Are the problems in his practice Ben’s fault? Ben sighed contentedly and rested his chin on his wife’s head. Their son was sitting on her lap and she leaned against him on the sofa so that he could hug her and their little boy at the same time. They had a cartoon movie on the TV, but Ben wasn’t paying attention to it. At times like these, their family seemed like a perfect unit, and his life seemed as though it was completely under control. So why didn’t it feel that way at the office more frequently? Carmen had problems at the pizzeria sometimes, but it always seemed as though she could just tackle the problem and solve it, and it was over. At his practice, it felt like they no sooner solved one problem than another came up. They had high turnover in the front office, and he knew that was part of the reason things slipped through the cracks, but maybe the high turnover was a symptom of the problem. Absenteeism, too — of course that led to turnover when people had to be let go, but it also seemed as though any time one person was missing it created a bottleneck in the office. Then when absent workers returned, it took three days to recover from every one day they’d been gone. Maybe they just weren’t getting the kind of training they needed, Ben reflected. Jonathan was laughing and squealing as the cartoon characters slid down a mountainside. It was funny in the cartoon, Ben thought, but sometimes that’s how it felt at work, and then it wasn’t so funny. The cartoon characters were bouncing from one branch and outcropping to another, their eyes comically huge, and his son couldn’t stop laughing. Ben couldn’t stop thinking that this was just what his workdays were like sometimes, bouncing from one problem to another and barely having time to get one issue cleaned up before another smacked into him. Forget about building and growing the practice — he was always in crisis mode. Ben didn’t really think it was a case of having bad workers. They made every effort to hire smart, competent people. And yet those smart people made mistakes and let things slide. He knew they didn’t provide intensive training to their staff, but where would he find the time to do that? He had always figured that if he hired good people, they could pick most things up on their own. Ben shook his head and Carmen smiled up at him questioningly. He returned her smile and willed himself to get his mind back into the present. He could think about his work problems later — in fact, he’d have to. He sighed again, but this time not with contentment. Maybe it was his fault. Are the problems in his practice Ben’s fault? Learn how Genesis Chiropractic Software helps a practice owner run his practice. Dr. Ben needs to understand how Genesis improves his patient experience.