Physicians who are managing several offices as part of a group practice already know the time
Physicians who are managing several offices as part of a group practice already know the time
Medical practice management is more than just office and staff management, it is also time management. Thankfully, there is technology for doctors out there that is easy to learn, implement, and use every day that can save you precious time. In fact, here are five major technologies and services that any busy doctor should look into immediately.
1. Hire a Zirtual Assistant
No, that isn’t a typo, it is a way to help you better manage your time constraints by a company called Zirtual. Essentially, they provide virtual assistants who can help you become even more efficient with your time.
They can help with managing your email, researching projects, help you manage your travel, or anything else that you might need help with. It is a very common technology for doctors and business professionals alike, on top of being relatively inexpensive to use. Also, all virtual assistants hired out by Zirtual are college educated, US based and highly experienced at what they do.
2. Outsourcing Business Tasks
On top of dealing with patients and generally exercising your medical practice management skills, there is also the growing concern of keeping up with inbound marketing tactics such as blogs, social media, and email newsletters that practices need to worry about.
Rather than doing all of this and more on your own, you can instead outsource such business tasks to experienced professionals that understand the healthcare industry as well as the online marketing industry. Why worry about staying up to date with the ever changing social media landscape when you can hire a company to promote your business for you?
3. Crowdsourcing Simple Tasks
On the other side of the spectrum, you can always crowdsource certain tasks that eat away at your valuable time because of how many there are. This can be a cheaper alternative to tasks that might only need to be done every so often, allowing for you to simply monitor the work and get the results you need. There are several websites out there which can help you with this side of medical practice management, all of them using the power of the crowd.
Consider crowdsourcing graphic design on sites like 99 Designs or CrowdSpring. Looking for an answer to a very specific question? Try Quora where you will probably get a better answer than from a search engine.
4. Using Mobile Tablets
One piece of technology for doctors that has become a life saver is the mobile tablet, especially the Apple iPad. Now, you can use it to save some time throughout the day by presenting procedures to patients on them, keeping track of your schedule with automated help from the tablet, and so much more. The tablet can become one of the most valuable things you use everyday to help your group practice, have you seen Apple’s list of health care apps in the App Store?
5. Google Drive
You don’t need to use Google Drive specifically to get cloud services, but it happens to be one of the best cloud services out there along with being completely free to use up to 5 gigs.
Be able to access your important files and documents related to medical practice management ideas on any device that has the Google Drive app installed on it. This can also help with collaboration as well as saving you time on trying to find that particular file you really need in a pinch. Other technologies similar to this is Apple iCloud and Dropbox, even Amazon has a service.
This is an age of simple but powerful technology for doctors that isn’t hard to learn, doesn’t have compatibility issues, and can be instantly downloaded or discovered without having to shell out big bucks. This list is by no means comprehensive, but the ones mentioned above are among the best. This can be especially true when several are combines to make your days a little easier. Work smarter and be able to successfully manage your group practice with less headache using these time-saving technologies.
Photo: Victor1558
