HOW DOCTORS MANAGE THEIR TIME?

Figuring out how to manage a medical practice, dealing with patients, and attending CME seminars is a cumbersome routine for a doctor. Importance of time management in healthcare is as equally crucial for a doctor as seeing patients is. If a medical practitioner does not come up with an effective time management strategy, it may lead to serious consequences.

This could lead to limiting face time with patients and compromise the quality time you would spend with your family. It is important for a physician to establish a much-needed balance between personal life and medical practice. Below mentioned are the tips through which a medical professional can manage their time effectively.

Goal Setting:

To create a sense of purpose to your professional and personal routine, establish goals. Do the goal setting for the coming week or the month. Go smart with your goal-setting and make sure they are sustainable and achievable. You may want to go with you clinical summary in this regard. Try to accomplish at least 75 percent of your clinical summary at the end of the day. Remaining can be taken care of the next day.

Set Your Daily Priorities:

You can proceed with this by listing the tasks for a week. This is one of the most effective time management skills for doctors. Don’t forget to assign ratings to your task such as A, B, and C. A level listing tasks can be clinical summaries and the projects that are deadline-driven. B level can be the ones that require your attention, but not immediate. For the level C, you can list priorities such as reading journal articles and other not so urgent tasks.

Be Accountable for Your Patient Appointments:

Time is a valuable gem that once gone, cannot be bought back. Leaving your patients in the exam room or waiting lobby is disrespectful. If you are unrealistic about your schedule, it may affect your practice. It is important to reevaluate your time for examining a patient and other medical visits. Make an adequate schedule with regards to your practice and try to be accountable for your timing.

Eliminate Distractions:

Multi-tasking affects your productivity by reducing it to around 40 percent. In simple words; it wastes more time of yours than it saves. Now, this can be one of the most effective time management tips for doctors. Logging off from the social media wouldn’t make the world crumble down on your feet. Try to turn off your email notifications and if required, don’t be hesitant to turn off your phone as well.

Saying “NO” Is Not So Difficult:

Set limits to protect your precious time and much-needed energy. It is important in a medical career to be punctual and to perform with the best of your abilities. If you have your plate full already, it wouldn’t make much of a difference, if you said no for taking more patients. Quality matters over quantity. Set boundaries and do not let an interruption to hamper your work, unless an emergency surfaces.

Technology Could Be Your Best Friend:

Your EHR and PMS can manage your time effectively and allow you to stay focused on the important tasks. Also, mobile technology can help you with effective time management. Make sure you are using mobile application that can be integrated with your clinic’s software. It can give you access to your patient’s database at any instant.

Making necessary changes to your everyday work-routine can bring harmony to your professional and personal life. These were a few of the effective time management tips for doctors and there are several others, you can take help of. By making good use of time management, you can use your time more productively.