Straighten up and find organized medicine

Practice Management. By Julie A. Jacob, amednews staff. April 22/29, 2002.

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

A column about keeping your practice in good health

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Spring is a time of renewal, so it's a perfect time to take a few hours to organize your office and take a few simple steps to make it run more smoothly.

Even just a day, or a half-day spent organizing your office and files will pay off by fostering a more efficient, less stressful work environment for you, your staff and patients all year long.

One easy way to make your practice run more efficiently is to organize supplies so they are easy to find.

For instance, if medical supplies and instruments are kept in the same place in every examining room, it's easier for physicians and medical assistants to find gloves, gauze pads, instruments, patient pamphlets and so on. No one has to hunt through the drawers to find something if he or she is using a different room.

"It also makes it easier for an assistant to go through and make sure that a room is fully stocked,' said Pamela Moore, a senior editor for Physicians Practice.

The prescription drug sample cabinet should also be cleaned out and organized every few months. Someone on the staff should occasionally go through the cabinet, organize drug samples by type of medication and toss out expired ones.

Sometimes pharmaceutical representatives will even offer to clean out the drug sample closet, said Moore.

Throwing out old forms and papers that are not needed any more -- such as forms for managed care companies the practice no longer has contracts with -- makes it easier to find things in the office and reduces clutter, suggested Kathy Waddill, author of The Organizing Sourcebook, who runs an organizing business in Orinda, Calif.

Hiring a cleaning firm to give the office a thorough cleaning each spring -- one that goes beyond the usual daily and weekly cleanings -- also goes a long way toward reducing clutter, noted Moore.

A clean desk helps improve efficiency and organization, said Keith Borglum, a medical business consultant with Professional Management and Marketing in Santa Rosa, Calif.

He recommended that physicians clear old magazines and junk mail from their desktops, then label three inboxes: A, B and C. The A box is for paperwork that needs to be done that day, the B box is for paperwork with a later due date, and the C box is for items that do not have a due date.

Also use the same A, B and C system when making daily "to do" lists, said Borglum. "A's are due today, B's aren't due today but have due dates, C's are everything else. Some C's never get done and that's OK."

Pediatrician Jennifer Shu, MD, who practices in Denver, clears off her desk each evening before she leaves work. She uses sticky notes to label charts and patient records for which she is waiting for lab results or other information.

"If I'm not in the office at a given time and a patient calls, my staff can tell them just by checking my pending charts that I've been waiting for lab results."

Dr. Shu said a handheld device also helps her stay organized. She uses it to look up prescription drug information, store addresses and phone numbers and schedule everything but patient visits.

While handhelds are a very useful tool for scheduling and organizing, some people may prefer using a paper-based system, noted Waddill.

The important thing is to use a system that's comfortable for you.

"A gadgety person may be much better suited to a Palm Pilot than someone who isn't," said Waddill. "If you don't like [an organization system] you won't use it. You need to find something that works for you. ... It is the end result [of being organized] that is desired, but be flexible about what tools are used."

Borglum also suggested that physicians invest in a one-day seminar in time management or organizational skills for the whole staff.

Another way to help stay organized is to do a "two-minute huddle" with your staff at the start of each morning and again right after lunch to "briefly discuss how to make the next few hours of patient visits smoother and more efficient," suggested Borglum.

Dr. Shu said she spends a few minutes at the end of each day looking over her appointment and meeting schedule for the next day.

"Try to anticipate what you might need for the following day," Dr. Shu suggested. "Any paperwork can be prepared ahead of time."

Jacob served as a staff writer for AMNews from 1996 to 2002.