Too much administration, not enough time - the words on every single practitioner’s lips. As a single practitioner, you cannot afford to be wasting time on tedious administration. Sadly, the realisation is that a lot of single practitioners do waste time, and have absolutely no notion that they are doing it.

Ask yourself when was the last time you analysed your clinic’s workflow? If the answer is ‘recently’, well done. If the answer is ‘longer that 6 months ago’, you need to keep on reading!

After a short analysis of inefficient workflows in different single practitioner clinics, we found there to be 5 primary areas that absorb time and resources; Paper, rigid practice management software, communications, referral management and cutting calls. The following 5 tips focus on these areas and how to combat them.

Shred Paper, Shred Time

Paper is an organism, living in the clinics of single practitioners nationwide. Paper can multiply if not quickly treated, and is only visible to opinionated clients. Paper should be treated with caution!

If your clinic operates using paper, it’s affecting all areas of your workflow from insurance referrals to patient invoices. Recording patient interactions using paper can be disastrous and leads to misplacement of patient information. Moreover, when it comes to accessing patient information, a paper record must be physically transported with the patient or across your practice. This takes precious time and can also lend itself to the possibility of human error.

Practice Management Software can help you eliminate paper and the nasty inefficiencies it brings with it. With electronic records you reduce the potential of data loss; the ability to create backup files, sign off clinical notes and retrace your steps with a time and date-stamped audit trail. Implementing a quality practice management system can completely enhance the way in which your practice operates, saving you valuable time and allowing you to do what you best, treat your patients. TM3 are currently offering a fantastic single practitioner bundle, running from October, right through to December 2016.

Is the solution as flexible as you are?

You no longer operate your clinic using dreaded paper, and you’ve made the quick leap to practice management software. Great, but you are not across the victory line yet!

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is your practice management software truly flexible?
   
2. Does it allow you the opportunity to practice when and where you want, on whatever device you want?

Practice Management Systems must be flexible in order to truly eliminate administration and enhance clinic workflows. In order to manage effectively, single practitioners require flexibility. There is no receptionist, or practice manager back at the clinic ensuring the business is running smoothly when you are away. You need to be able to stay on top your business at all times, at any location.

Increase Communication

Being able to communicate effectively with your patients can improve customer retention, reduce errors, improve customer loyalty, and decrease inefficiencies in your workflow. By utilising practice management software like TM3, you can effectively communicate with all your patients at the click of a few buttons. The right practice management software should allow you to template, send, and receive:

· Emails

· Letters

· Referral documents

· Invoices

· Task notifications

Referrals Simplified

Referrals can be extremely tedious and time-consuming for even the largest of clinics. How many minutes have you spent on the phone talking to insurance companies, chasing payments, sending notes, chasing more payments? It’s not fun, it’s seriously annoying, but luckily you don’t have to put up with it. Have you ever heard of Pronto? Pronto is the industry's first referral network created by Blue Zinc IT. With Pronto, you can receive referrals from major insurance companies and online directories such as BUPA, Physio First, PhysioMed, Zesty, WhatClinic direct into your diary, eliminating admin and lengthy payments.

Hang up the phone, hang on to time!

Having no reception staff can be tricky. Taking calls and answering queries can take up a lot of time and hold you back from doing more important tasks. On the other hand, if you don't answer your calls you'll lose out on business.

At you clinic, who takes the calls when you’re treating? Missed calls can be annoying, especially when you realise the potential customer has gone to a local competitor. Luckily, there are three solutions for this inefficiency:

Solution 1: Go down the route of hiring a receptionist, which I’m sure you’ve considered and rejected due to cost.

Solution 2; You could hire a virtual reception who will take care of your calls and appointments whilst you treat your patients.

Solution 3; Setup online bookings. This does not fully take care of your missed calls but adds a different dimension to your clinic. It also opens your clinic to the possibility of 24/7 bookings - which is great for revenue. A quick workaround would be to include directions to booking online in your voicemail message. This might help capture patients, who in the past, might have gone elsewhere.

Single Practitioner Bundle

Business life can be tough for single practitioners, and at TM3 we understand that. As a single practitioner your job does not stop and end with treating patients; you’re the accountant, marketing, receptionist. To help you overcome these hurdles and streamline your practice, we’ve put together a Single Practitioner Bundle that you’ll not want to miss! Click [Single Practitioners](www.tm3practicemanagement.com/learning/inside-tm3-blog/single-practitioners) to find out more.