Physician Time Management: Creating Patient and Doctor Satisfaction Jeffrey P. Friedman MD, FACP Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine of NYU School.

Physician Time Management:Creating Patient and Doctor Satisfaction

Jeffrey P. Friedman MD, FACP

Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine of NYU School of Medicine

Founding Member & Former Managing Partner, Murray Hill Medical Group, PC

My Patient Mix

Fee for Service 20%

Managed Care ( no capitation ) 50%

Medicare 30%

Important

Different timing for different appointments

Making sure that annuals are done yearly

Adding same day appts = Open Access

Time for calls

Number of rooms

Number of support staff

Patient Needs

Analyze the types of appointments you need/have

• Have enough appointment types to satisfy most common issues

−Determine time of appointment types

• Examples: New Patient, Annuals, Travel Visits, New Problem Visit, Vaccine, Same Day Illness, Follow- Up

The Good and The Bad

Allow enough time for the unforeseen

Allow enough time for the different appointment types

Give yourself time for breaks and calls

Annuals: What You Should Do

Require complete physical exam every 1-2 years depending on patient age or dx list•Send out reminders

ROS Examine the patient Make sure the chronic illnesses are stable Review medications and interactions Review allergies Review vaccines and administer Review the next year of preventative

needs Counseling as needed

Annuals -What You Should Not Do Do not do “lists”

Do not review “Internet Articles”

Do not fill out forms

Do not “combine” the visit with another visit

• Example -- Annual and Travel

If the patient is sick, convert the visit into a “sick visit”-do not do an annual and sick visit together

Ancillary Staff Issues

Determine efficient workflow

• Number of exam rooms and number of staff

• Use ancillary help for escorting patients and getting vital signs

• Use ancillary help for blood drawing, EKGs

• Use ancillary help to call in refills

• If the ancillary help does not hustle or are not good at their job details, change them

• Have patients make their own appointments for tests if capable and have them inform staff of time/date

Patient Centric Care

Keep patient movement to a minimum

• Start all patients except new patients in the exam room (exception: travel visits)−Annuals---> fully undressed and gowned

−All others-remove only what is necessary for the most significant problems

−Vital signs, exam, bloods, EKG’s, PFT’s, vision and hearing all from the exam table

−Urine tests on the way out

−Place orders and prescriptions at outgoing

Training Patients

Do Unto Others…

Run on time

• Keep an eye on your schedule at all times

• Use down- time effectively

• Keep to your rules

−No lists for Annuals

−For problem visits, keep lists to 1-2 problems max.

−Extra problems require extra visits

−Emergency/ Same day visits are just for that problem

Do Unto Others…

Respect your Patient’s time

• If you have to leave on an emergency, have your staff call your patients and reschedule

• If running late, take a second and go into the waiting room and apologize

• Give an honest estimate of the wait

• Offer to let them reschedule or return later

• Offer them a colleague

• Remember- We are a SERVICE INDUSTRY and it is competitive out there!

Free Time – “Do Today’s Work Today”

• Prioritize Phone Calls −Call sick patients first and offer appointments

right away before getting into a long conversation

−Do not treat on the phone

−Triage to an appropriate doctor if needed

−Review lab and test results, document and call patients if needed

−Consider letter merge for normal issues

• OK prescription refills and referrals

Open Access

1. Completely Opening the Office All Day

2. Early and Late Walk-In Clinics

3. Setting Aside Blocks of Time

4. Combinations of Above

PROS

Increased patient satisfaction

Increased physician satisfaction

Increased physician income (more patients, less no-shows)

Cons Seasonal

• Daily swings can create havoc for a small practice−Can be slow during vacation periods, late spring and

early summer−Not enough coverage during busy times

Initial physician over-time required to work down the patient backlog/queue

Need coverage that can handle over-flow and vacations and who work with the same philosophy of seeing patients

Need employees who can work in that environment

Important to allow enough time for overflow when you return from vacation

Full open access in a busy practice might require hiring more doctors and closing panels

Other Issues

Paper management

Phone calls

Multitasking

Finish before moving on to the next patient

• notes, coding, orders, final billing

Paper

Paper management

• Finish before the end of the day

• Nothing is “stat”

• Consider charging if it is not covered under most plans

−camp physicals and employment exams

Phones

Triage

• If patients need to come in, make them do so – no long winded conversations

• Non-emergent; fit into your day, train patients that you will call back that day and there is no need for multiple calls

• Do not take calls while seeing/ examining a patient except from doctors, nurses, and life-threatening emergencies

• Get the numbers and times when your patient will be where they can be reached

Multitask

You can do it if your kids can do it

• While on hold -- finish a note

• While on hold -- message your secretary

• Check your schedule

Finish Before Moving On

Finish the coding on the visit

Finish the office notes

Move on to the next patient with a clear slate

Questions and Answers

How many annuals and how many patients do you see each day?

• 4-5 annuals / day leave enough time for sick patients and new patients, 20-30 patients/ day

When are hospital rounds done?

• Hospital Rounds before and after Office Hours -- leave enough time for problems

Do you use physician extenders?

• NPs & PAs too expensive to be cost effective in Manhattan

• Instead MA’s are trained to help “extend” the physician’s productivity, as previously indicated

Q/A Continued

How do you use dictation or templates?

• We use templates, quick text and free typing

Do you lose patients because of your rules?

• Yes, but the patients who continue with me appreciate my time management and I enjoy work

How do you handle late patients, no shows, same day cancels?

• Try to fit them in if late-come back later

• No shows and same day cancellation ( if no good excuse ) get charged $75 to $200 depending on the type of appointment

Q/A Continued

How do you code for annuals?

• V codes including Medicare (after they sign a non-covered service waiver)

• EMR tracks recall for annual

New patient expectation issues?

• Patients download from the website the practice rules and regulations

Office visit hours?

• 8am-7pm most work days