How to turnaround a time-poor practice

The health industry is being consistently asked to do more with less, and for GPs this means delivering potentially life-saving care under severe time constraints.

While there has been a number of government and regulatory solutions put forward, be they funding or policy, proactive change is slow and pressure continues to mount for burnt GPs struggling to face the new year with any resolution.

We take a look at how a time-poor practice can make some empowered changes for 2018, turnaround clinical workflow and enable more optimised and personal patient time while reducing administrative burdens.

How much of your day is really spent consulting?
A day in the life of a GP is dynamic, busy and ever-evolving, but how much of that day is really spent on patient consulting?

In February this year, a Sydney-based GP shared a detailed run down on the day, which shone a stark light on the challenges faced by GPs. Meanwhile a 2016 study, which quantified the time GPs spent on non-billable patient care under Medicare, found 69.5% of GPs report non-billable care outside patient visits and 12.1% of patient encounters were associated with non-billable time. This included activity such as renewing prescriptions, arranging referrals and consulting with specialists.

Streamlining workflow in the cloud
It is now well within the bounds of cloud technology to make processes such as prescription management, patient booking and patient data and billing management far more simple and efficient.

Streamlining workflows in general practice can open up more valuable time for GPs to direct their focus towards what they were trained to do – deliver quality care and foster positive relationships with patients. Imagine how much time could be saved every day if primary healthcare providers could tap into the potential of technology to automate administrative elements of care provision and practice management, from bookings to billings.

Next steps
Recent developments in cloud and digital health have great potential to facilitate more efficient processes in general practice. From managing patient bookings, to consultation, to follow-up care, there are fresh and exciting opportunities for technology to alleviate some of the pressures on general practice.

Moving forward, the time is now to be more proactive and to continue to embrace the capabilities of technology in order to allow GPs to dedicate due time and focus to quality patient care.

To learn more about how technology can help streamline your practice, contact us today.