How These 5 Resources Can Give You More Time with Patients
With numerous patients to attend to every day, physicians and healthcare givers often spend the shortest time possible with each client. Many doctors find it hard to optimize their long hours in hospitals while still offering the best care to their patients. Physicians can keep everything organized with the help of proven productivity tools. Here are top resources for doctors that will help them spend more time with their patients.
Electronic Health Records
Doctors rely on a patient’s health records to make decisions concerning the patients. An electronic health record (EHR) makes this information available instantly to authorized users. This system also allows you to automate most processes. You won’t have to spend a lot of time organizing and going through the client’s paperwork to determine the best course of action.
An EHR also contains information from all clinicians who’ve handled the client before, providing you an elaborate medical history of all your clients. Ditch the patient’s chart for the EHR and create more time for your patients. You’ll be better placed to plan efficient, personalized treatment plans when coordinating care with other doctors. EHR systems also let you fill out reimbursement forms for Medicaid and Medicare whenever you provide services to patients.
Telemedicine and Digital Devices
Numerous health technological solutions can help bring your patient closer to you without them having to visit your office physically. Solutions like telemedicine are especially important for remote patients who only require short consultations. You’ll be able to pull data from your EHR systems and serve patients from the comfort of their homes.
You could also recommend different digital health apps and devices for chronic patients. Let them measure vital signs like blood pressure remotely. With telemedicine, doctors can also enroll patients for remote monitoring projects along with video conferencing. Such devices help you clear your schedules, ensuring that you can spare more time for your patients on location.
Transcription Outsourcing
Besides your usual clinical rounds as a doctor, you need to ensure that the clerical side of your office runs smoothly. Physicians can quickly lose a couple of hours typing patient health information, the time they could have used to provide better care to their patients.
Consider seeking the services of a medical transcription company to take care of much of the clerical work. Such companies will type notes from your patients’ meetings into your EHR. You can use an iPhone App or Dictaphone to record the meetings. With fast turnaround times, you’ll have updated client information regularly. Outsourcing transcription services lets you offer undivided attention to your patients.
VoIP for Managing Calls
Your staff often have to reach out to insurance companies to verify coverage for your patients. With the VoIP phone systems, you can keep tabs on frequently contacted providers and reach them with little hassle, ensuring that the office runs smoothly. VoIP also helps you transfer calls to appropriate departments within your office with ease.
You’ll be able to get support for your patients in real-time and spend less time trying to track down available members of supporting departments. The system also lets you spread work evenly to available staff, saving your staff members from frustration, and ensuring that the office is more productive.
Cloud-Based Systems and Mobile Portals for Data management
Healthcare providers and ancillary service providers like labs generate large amounts of patient data. Hospitals often need to manage the storage, retrieval, and security of such data to ensure patients receive top-notch healthcare. Cloud-based data systems provide real-time access to patient-related data. Records such as registrations, diagnoses, treatments, and medical history are updated regularly and stored securely.
Mobile portals provide you with more flexibility, allowing you to learn more about your patient with a click of a button as you interact with them. You can also share patient data with other doctors faster on your mobile devices. As you move away from the traditional pen-and-paper systems, you’ll free up more time and interact more with your patients.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, you want to see as many patients as possible and give them undivided attention. These resources should help you clear up your schedule and create more time for your patients. As you offer more efficient services to your patients, you are likely to become more productive and grow your practice in the process.