Balancing patient care and administrative tasks in a busy healthcare setting: Feeling overwhelmed?

You have to be able to look at the big picture. Make sure your patients are your top priority and that you return phone calls and address their concerns right away. If you have a staff member that is struggling in their position offer to have additional training and weekly meetings to show you are invested in their success. Look at daily reports to keep on top of production, collections and what you are writing off. Meet weekly with your bosses and monthly with your staff so as a team you work together to be the best at what you do. Stand out and above everyone else!

The experience and knowledge of working in a clinical setting is very helpful in prioritizing tasks where you can use your best judgement about what things will have a time constraint or what will have a significant impact to patient outcomes.

Looking at the big picture is necessary. Reduce stress by triaging and attend to the most stressful things first. Those on the front lines need to see and know those above them are willing to pitch in rather than standby and critic.

Time management is essential in getting the job completed timely. I really like setting a time for completion of tasks. I’ll try it!

I organize my email inboxes to organize my day(s). They contain these folders that all emails as they come in, get filtered to. I check them every day and in the to do folder, I work those by priority and ease, getting rid of the easy ones first so I can focus on the more urgent ones without distraction: To Do To Do NOT Urgent Awaiting A Response Awaiting a response not urgent project folder Pending contracts Recruiting Giving myself dedicated admin time then gives me the rest of my time to truly focus on patient care, gives me more dedicated face to face time with my direct reports so they know they are important too, and gives me a free space in my mind to always keep a clear head which leads to better decision making.

One thing I have found helpful is writing 3 goals for the day with their specific time slots, on your planner or post-it notes.

Do not micromanage. It is the quickest way to establish resentment. As a manager, building trust with staff is key. Sometimes actions speak louder than words. As a manger being transparent and human helps foster a team. It allows you to trust your staff and staff trust you because it creates open communication. This allows you to be able to delegate without worry. This lets the employees feel they are important and shows them what they do matters. Also, know your person. One of the best tools I have in my tool box. Know your staffs personalities and capabilities. It allows managers to delegate tasks without setting staff up to fail.

Tech is your best friend. Streamline documentation with electronic health records (EHRs). Use scheduling software with reminders to keep everyone on track. Offer virtual consultations through telehealth platforms. Automate billing and insurance with medical billing software. Secure messaging apps keep your team connected. Empower patients with patient portals for easy access to records and appointments. Finally, invest in workflow management tools to prioritize tasks and stay organized. Top it all off by staying current with the latest healthcare technologies.

On high stress day’s my Go to is a 15 minute walk. Get outside of the office, away from the work, colleagues, computers etc. Remember that they can and will survive a few minutes without you. Breathe, relax, refocus, if you can find a place in nature such as a park, even better. Calm yourself and things will not seem so out of control. The better your mood, the better you’ll handle high stress situations.

Asking your other coworkers and learning from the way they do things their own way have helped me form my own strategies. The goal is not do better than them, but learn from their experiences and advice. Especially with colleagues that have more years of experience. Being open minded about learning is a surprising and fascinating experience that will take you to new heights professionally.

Embrace continuous improvement to enhance both patient care and administrative efficiency in your healthcare practice. Regularly review your workflows and identify areas that could benefit from increased efficiency or updated processes. Engage your team in feedback sessions to gather insights on what's working well and what needs improvement. Implement small, incremental changes rather than overhauling systems entirely to avoid disruptions. Utilize data analytics to monitor performance and outcomes, helping to pinpoint specific areas for enhancement. Stay informed about industry best practices and emerging technologies that could further streamline operations.