The Executive Suite: How tp conduct a time and motion study of your medical practice

Monday, October 30, 2023

How tp conduct a time and motion study of your medical practice

Develop an on-time philosophy

You know the adage: Timeliness is next to godliness. (It's cleanliness that's next to godliness, but timeliness is vital, too!) Patients' most common complaint about the healthcare experience is "waiting for the doctor." Spending excessive time in the reception area accounts for more patient dissatisfaction than any other aspect of medical care. In one recent survey, nearly one in four patients (24%) claimed to have waited 30 minutes or longer. This statistic will only worsen with so many more women entering the marketplace.

To gain an accurate picture of what is happening regarding the schedule in your practice, I suggest conducting a "time and motion" study. For a period of 3 to 5 days, place a sheet on each patient's record or superbill and log in the following:

time of her appointment
time she arrived
time she left the office
how much time she spent with her physician

You will be amazed to discover that patients are waiting 1 or 2 hours or longer to see the physician, and that the physician is spending only 5 minutes with the patient. Ask any patient on a survey if she feels she is getting bang for their buck, and they will answer, "No!"

By conducting a time and motion study, you will discover that there are predictable periods when backlogs occur. Often, these delays result from "working a patient in" to the schedule. Unscheduled patients who call to report a medical emergency are often told to come in without an appointment. Still, they inevitably displace patients already scheduled and delay the visit of those with scheduled appointments. This problem affects almost every doctor.

One way to avoid this scenario is to create "sacred" time slots. These are 15-minute intervals at the end of the morning or afternoon in which unscheduled patients can be seen without affecting the schedule. Instead of telling the patient to "just come in," the receptionist tells them to report at a specific time. These time slots must be filled with something other than routine appointments. They can only be filled after 9 a.m. each day. This leaves two or three places open for patients who must be seen immediately.

Few physicians can change healthcare policy. But all of us can be more sensitive to our patients' time and try to see them as soon as possible, eliminating one of the patients' most common complaints: the long wait to see their doctor.