Picture this: You’re working with an elderly patient who may have trouble hearing. You’re already working extra hard to communicate efficiently with the patient, but then one of your trainees needs help. The trainee does not want to interrupt, so chooses to figure it out themselves or wait until the therapist is finished.
Turns out, many delays were caused because of this and now you’re way behind schedule with much more work to do.
This is caused by a communication issue that has roots in an inefficient workplace strategy. What’s the best way to prevent this? Boosting efficiency by implementing different techniques into your physical therapy practice.
To get you started on your efficiency journey, here are three tips that might work in your favor.
1. Communication Is Key— Use It To Your Advantage
You’ve probably heard this one a million times, but communication amongst workers and patients is absolutely crucial.
In a fast-paced environment that deals with so many tasks such as a physical therapy office, it’s extremely easy to fall prey to miscommunication.
To offset that, here are a few communication tips to help your physical therapy office flow a little more smoothly:
- Set up weekly meetings between employees who need to work with each other. The meetings don’t have to belong, maybe even 10 minutes.
- Texting— it has a negative reputation in the workplace, but can actually be used to help encourage communication among employees.
- Develop a system to help you direct people where to go. You can set up signs or whiteboards that clearly indicate where everything is and at what time everything is at.
Lastly, encourage everyone to be open about the conversation. Hesitation revolving around questions and concerns will only lead to a downfall in the end.
2. Opt For Online Scheduling and Messaging
The internet is a fantastic tool these days that can help with almost anything. We’re at the peak of the digital age, so using the internet to help you can boost efficiency at an incredible rate.
Two ways that you can do this are to opt for online scheduling and messaging. Having an employee talk on the phone with a patient for hours about their schedule or appointment can cause immense delays in workflow.
Setting up an online website or portal where patients can easily schedule themselves in or even ask questions will leave you with so much extra time on your hands.
3. Rearrange The Office To Benefit Productivity
Your physical space says so much about how you process things on the internal level. A disorganized space often stems from a disorganized mind.
Take a few times throughout the day to organize everything. Label everything and make sure all employees and patients know where to get what they need.
Additionally, you can even use certain devices, furniture, or machines to your advantage. For example, you can look towards investing in a multi-functional taping station that can double down as a storage and a therapy chair.
Get creative with this, you might even get inspiration by looking at other therapist offices online.
Other Tips For Efficiency in Your Physical Therapy Practice
While these next tips might not change much, they’ll surely help out. Remember: a little goes a long way!
- Track online reviews
- Use virtual forms
- Send patients their reports online rather than printing in person
- Use furniture to direct traffic
- Observe your patients, where are they getting confused?
One last thing that has helped tremendously with other clinics is switching to contactless payments.
What Else Can I Learn About my Workplace?
Truth be told, these tips only scratch the surface of what you can do to improve efficiency in your physical therapy practice. Try these out and find which ones work for you. Only keep the ones that are benefitting you.
For more help, please look through our blog for numerous helpful tips and other resources.
Throughout the year, our writers feature fresh, in-depth, and relevant information for our audience of 40,000+ healthcare leaders and professionals. As a healthcare business publication, we cover and cherish our relationship with the entire health care industry including administrators, nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, and more. We cover a broad spectrum from hospitals to medical offices to outpatient services to eye surgery centers to university settings. We focus on rehabilitation, nursing homes, home care, hospice as well as men’s health, women’s heath, and pediatrics.
