Tips that will help Physicians Reduce Waiting Time in the Healthcare Center

Having your own practice means taking care of the major problems as well the minute details. You must have an efficient system because even the best doctors lose a lot of patients due to long waiting times and other problems in the waiting room.

Once the patients are in your waiting room, every comfort and discomfort they experience is your responsibility. They should be managed the moment they come in and until they leave your doors.

According to a study, the top two reasons for long waiting periods are late patient arrival (when scheduled) and unexpected patient issues (such as requiring extra documents). Knowing the reasons can help you in making your system more efficient.

Here are some data-driven tips that will help you reduce waiting time. Let’s start with some no-brainer ones and then move to a clinic management software option.

1. Gather Patient Information in Advance

Once the patient has scheduled the appointment, there is still the need to collect insurance information, patient history, referral information, etc. These documents should be ready and waiting before the patient is examined so that the doctor knows all the relevant details to make a diagnosis or give a treatment plan.

Having the option of filling out all the forms at their convenience before the appointment will prevent delays and make your system more efficient. You can delegate this work to a staff member or to a clinic management software.

2. Schedule in Break Time

Having a full and over-booked schedule looks great in the bottom line, but it creates a lot of frustration in patients due to the long waiting periods. Moreover, it adds a lot of stress on the doctor because of constant work and no rest. Therefore, opt for a better scheduling system that prevents overbooking.

Your schedule should be full with some time off in between so you can have the mental and the physical rest to be better and at an optimal energy level to do your work. The best way to schedule your work is by leveraging a clinic management solution that can provide time slots to patients who are not already booked.

3. Create a Strict Policy

If you allow patients to schedule their appointments, there are bound to be late arrivals or cancellations. Some have valid reasons, and some don’t. But that does not change the fact that it can disrupt your schedule by creating an unexpected gap in the schedule and having the rest of the day in a frenzy. There should be a strict policy regarding appointments.

You can set a time limit for late arrivals. The best way to go about this is to have a Clinic management software to automate workflow. The software will let them know beforehand what your policy is for appointments, cancellations, etc. You can charge a fee for cancellation or repeat late arrivals to encourage your patients to be on time. Contrary, there can be a free pass for the first time, and you can let them go with a warning.

4. Increase Transparency

The best way to keep your patients satisfied with your services and reduce waiting time is to have a transparent process. The most compelling reasons why patients move to a new doctor are - lack of communication, ignorant para-medics, lack of patient safety, lack of transparency, and low-quality service.

Clinic management solutions like Softclinic, Softclinic genx, etc., are applications designed specifically to increase the trust of patients in doctors by taking care of the essential elements of your service.

5. Provide a Comfortable Waiting Room

Comfort for patients comes in two forms - physical and mental. The clinic management software can take care of their mental comfort by giving them easy access to information, giving updates, helping them set up appointments, etc. But physical comfort is also important once they arrive in the clinic.

Basic comforts like a water cooler, clean toilets, free Wi-Fi, a TV, some magazines, a vending machine, and a coffee machine can improve the waiting period, and you can earn some points in customer review.

6. Examine Your Staff

You need to observe your clinical process and see the areas that can be improved upon or automated. Check how your staff is working and make adaptable changes so that the waiting time can be reduced. Opting for software to manage your regular activities might require a little investment. But in the long run, this is the best way to scale up your practice without working to the bone.

7. Go Online

After the lockdown of COVID-19, everyone has become accustomed to getting everything online. Once you have built up your practice enough, it is time to start taking some virtual examinations. The waiting period of a lot of patients will be drastically reduced once you start practicing online.

You will need the help of software that automates the process for you, but once you get used to the virtual treatment, it will benefit both you and the patient.

Final Thoughts

The best way to succeed in the healthcare industry is to adapt to changes and keep improving. Making your patients wait for long hours can have undesirable results for your business. We understand that you cannot completely decrease the waiting time in this field, but it is possible to gradually and easily cut down on them through software like Softclinic genx. Doing it without software is also possible, but it will be a slow journey with several problems. If you are under a lot of work pressure, the best way to eliminate this issue is by bringing in expert healthcare software that will efficiently take care of your clinical processes.

This post is originally published: https://www.softclinicsoftware.com/how-to-reduce-waiting-time-in-your-practice-with-a-clinic-software/