PS – Easier Clinic Days? Start Before You Walk In the Room

Who doesn’t want easier clinic days?

Have you ever checked into a hotel room and the experience was just…easy? Lovely, even?

The confirmation came at the right time, the reminder wasn’t annoying, you knew exactly where to go and what to bring, and by the time you arrived you were already in a good mood. Nobody had to work very hard to get you there. You were set up to have a good experience before you ever walked through the door.

Your patient’s journey before the appointment can work the same way. Most of us just haven’t thought about it.

We think about the clinical encounter. The history, the physical, the plan. We don’t think about what was happening before their arrival to clinic. What patients received before they got to us. Whether they felt confused or clear. Whether they’d spent the week calling the office to ask what they were allowed to eat.

And this is a huge opportunity to make your patients, your teams and your own life easier.

What Are Your Patients Actually Receiving Before They See You?

If you’re a specialist, that journey starts when the referral lands. If you’re in primary care, it starts when they call to book. From that moment to the moment you walk in the room, what are they getting?

For some practices, not much. Including mine, until I actually took a look at it.

FYI, (learned this the hard way) your patients might also be receiving emails or notifications you didn’t set up and aren’t aware of.

We discovered this the hard way. We were sending appointment reminder emails, and Gmail was auto-suggesting to patients that they block off a two-hour window. Patients (in my case) assumed their procedure was happening the same day as their consult.

Mass confusion, disappointment, a lot of phone calls and staff time walking people back from an expectation nobody meant to set.

It took us a while to figure out where that was coming from. And because people were confused and had made arrangements and had other expectations, in the visits I had to dig myself out of that hole (that I didn’t even dig for myself) to then finish on a more positive note = more energy expenditure = harder days.

We have finite energy. We need to stop any unnecessary drains where we can (great concept from The Energy Bus).

The Payoff: Easier clinic days for everyone.

Physicians, we are not a concierge service. I’m not suggesting you be one.

My argument is that when patients know what to expect, feel like they’ve been communicated with and arrive with clear expectations, a few things happen:

• They come in a better mood.
• Your admin fields fewer repetitive calls.
• The visit starts from a neutral or positive place instead of you digging out of a hole someone else dug.

We all know what a hard patient day feels like versus a good one. The energy expenditure difference is real. And if you can get patients into a better place before they see you, your days get easier. For you, for your team, for your admin.

Using Pre-Visit Time to Get Work Done

Another thing to think about on that patient journey before they see you: how can you use that time before their appointment to get some of your work done?

Most EMRs have a built-in intake form or an add-on that lets you send one. Past medical history, medications, allergies, whatever you always ask..patients can answer all of this before the appointment.

If you have a practice extender, they could copy patient responses straight into a consult note template.

Or if you see a lot of hernias, you could have a pre-visit questionnaire that covers your standard questions and starts the note before you’ve walked in the room.

The Short Version

Start by figuring out what your patients are receiving from referral to appointment day. Not to redesign anything from scratch. Just to know what’s going out under your name.

Then ask: what questions or expectations do they reliably show up with that could have been addressed ahead of time?

Take that a step further: is there a way to start collecting the information you need before you even walk in the door?

We aren’t a concierge service, but thinking about the patient experience before you walk in the room can start meaning that everyone’s days are easier: patients’, your team’s and yours.

Dr. Kate Boehm MD, MEd, FRCSC is a reconstructive plastic surgeon and the founder of DuplicateMeMD. She stubbornly believes that practice management is the way for female physicians to get time back.