Introduction

Change is hard, especially for busy medical clinics. Physicians are often reluctant to make changes to workflow. Change often means a slow down of booked patient appointments to plan and then implement that change. While this slowdown is temporary, some physicians don’t want to venture down this road and we get it. By embracing three strategies, medical clinics can sail a bit easier through the process.

#1 – Don’t go it alone

In instances of physician groups, don’t make changes without consulting the entire team. Bring frontline staff and clinical staff into the discussion and planning stage early on. They can offer practical advice and raise some considerations you may not have thought of, just due to the different type of work you both do. For example, if you are introducing new technology, they can make a suggestion about which time of year makes the most sense from an administrative point of view. Sometimes solutions introduced in the summer months is a bit easier as it sometimes slows down as patients are away on vacation.

Explain the vision or end result you are trying to get to. Know your goal. This helps to sell the idea to those that are not convinced the change is necessary.

#2 – Plan, Plan, Plan

Schedule 1 hour to work through how the new change will impact your workflow. Work through all of the steps from start to finish. Use sticky notes that have individual steps written on them to rearrange and eliminate non-value add steps. Rearrange steps to avoid bottlenecks or potential slow downs. Consult with vendors on identified issues.

Plan for what could go wrong. Have contingencies in place in the event of something that hadn’t been considered.

Inform your patients. Explain to them the planned outcome so they too buy-into the change. Consider polling your patients, or even including some volunteers of your patient base into the planning phase. They have a totally different perspective.

Use basic change management principles. There is a ton of information on the internet to guide you through this exercise. If you struggle, reach out to one of our practice management consultants to schedule a consultation.

#3 – Have patience

Lastly, remind yourselves of a time when you embraced something new in your personal life. That change was likely a challenge to get into a routine. However, if we don’t embrace change, we won’t see the benefits and become more efficient. Isn’t that the objective? Be compassionate with team members when just learning the new change or technology. Work together to solve any problems you encounter.