How to Streamline the Patient Intake Process

by CompanyOn | Jan 4, 2023 | All, Best Practice tips, CompanyOn Features, Education

How to Streamline the Patient Intake Process

Streamlining the patient intake process can help to improve the overall patient experience and increase efficiency at your medical practice

Patient intake is an essential part of running a successful medical practice, but it can also be a time-consuming and inefficient process.

Here are some tips for streamlining your patient intake process:

1. Offer online appointment scheduling

Allow patients to schedule appointments online, which can reduce the time and effort required to handle scheduling tasks.

2. Use electronic medical records systems:

EMR systems can streamline the patient intake process by allowing patients to input their own information and providing easy access to their medical history. .

3. Train staff to be efficient and friendly

Ensuring that your staff is well-trained and able to handle patient intake efficiently can go a long way in streamlining the process. Encourage staff to be friendly and helpful, as this can help to put patients at ease and improve the overall patient experience

4. Review and optimize processes regularly

Regularly reviewing and optimizing your patient intake process can help to identify areas for improvement and ensure that you are providing the best possible service to your patients.

5. Make use of technology

Technology can be a useful tool in streamlining the patient intake process. Consider using electronic forms, appointment scheduling software, and other tech solutions to reduce the time and effort required to handle patient intake.

CompanyOn’s online forms provide the ability to send intake forms and econsents so you can collect patients’ information in advance

Practitioners should strive to leverage all the automation that technology can offer and create streamlined processes in order to improve performance and metrics.

6. Communicate clearly with patients

Ensuring that patients understand the intake process and what is expected of them can help to reduce confusion and improve the overall patient experience. Consider providing clear instructions and information to patients to help them navigate the process smoothly.

7. Stay organized

Maintaining a well-organized office can help to streamline the patient intake process. Consider implementing a filing system and making use of online storage solutions to keep important documents organized and easily accessible.

By implementing these strategies, you can help to streamline the patient intake process and improve the overall patient experience. This can help to reduce wait times and increase efficiency, ultimately leading to a more successful independent practice.

At CompanyOn, we’re committed to supporting our community of solo practitioners, no matter if they are just thinking in pursuing professional independence, or they are already well established solo practitioners.

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Are You Being as Productive as You Need to Run a Successful Independent Practice?

by CompanyOn | Dec 7, 2022 | All, Best Practice tips, CompanyOn Features, Education

Are You Being as Productive as You Need to Run a Successful Independent Practice?

Identifying the drivers of a private practice productivity is vital to measure the financial health of the business

It is also important to identify where the most opportunity lies for improvement when it comes to the way the practice is managed and clients are cared for.

Here are 3 quick tips for measuring your practice productivity:

1. Efficiency and Effectiveness

The first step is to determine what productivity actually means. The best metric to use is the utilization rate or number of hours per client per week including, commute and documentation of care, you invest in the provision of care.
Utilization is defined as the amount of a practitioner’s available time that’s used for productive, billable work, expressed as a percentage. It’s a measure of billing efficiency that helps the business understand if it’s billing enough to cover its cost plus overhead. To learn more about how to calculate your utilization rate, please check the following article here.

2. Net Collection Rate

Net collection rate measures productivity by determining how much of the work a practitioner bills for, actually gets paid. It measures how effective the practice is at collecting all legitimate forms of reimbursement for services. The net collection rate will reveal deficiencies in this process. It provides visibility into what is actually being collected and what your independent practice is actually allowed to collect after factoring in any refunds, write-offs, discounts, etc. To learn more about how to calculate your practice net collection rate, please check the following article click here.

3. Outstanding Account Receivables

This is one of the key indicators of a practice’s performance. How long does it take your practice to collect payments for services you provide? Reducing the time, it takes for an outstanding invoice to be paid is key to increase cashflow and overall financial stability of your business.

There are a variety of metrics that practitioners can use to assess how effectively and efficiently running their practice is. While some such as net collection rates and outstanding accounts receivable are traditionally seen as indicators of how satisfied clients are with the services provided, they may also indicate billing issues.

Practitioners should strive to leverage all the automation that technology can offer and create a streamlined billing process in order to improve performance and metrics.

This will help identify any potential problems early on and hopefully result in increased satisfaction among clients.

At CompanyOn, we’re committed to supporting our community of solo practitioners, no matter if they are just thinking in pursuing professional independence, or they are already well established solo practitioners.

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How to Create a Safety Culture Within your Business

by CompanyOn | Jul 6, 2022 | All, Best Practice tips, Education

How to Create a Culture of Safety Within your Business

For business owners, including independent practitioners, it’s important to create a culture of safety. Not only for the well-being of ourselves, but any staff that may work for you. Worker training and orientation are part of the employer’s occupational health and safety responsibilities with ensuring a safe work environment.

Training and education boost knowledge and further develops skills. Train yourself and workers on hazard recognition and how to work safely and you’ll see a shift in mindset and increased engagement. Want to motivate your staff and boost your bottom line? Create an effective safety program that includes an investment in worker education and training, then watch for an improvement in motivation and productivity. To support yourself and your staff with working safely, provide training on the hazards associated with the job and effective measures in place to prevent them. Check out WorkSafe BC for more on training.

Safety orientation for new workers
Specific job tasks
Providing supervision
Training Records
Ongoing training

What Are the Top Three Topics to Train Yourself or New Staff On?

For new solo practitioners, safety orientation training is the first step. The benefit of training on safety right from the get-go is that it sets you and your team for safety success! Provide the best start with the following topics in your training program and back it up with appropriate supervision.

Check out the WSBC site on training and orientation for more info on these three topics that must be included in every orientation:

Rights and Responsibilities
Workplace Hazards
Safe Work Procedures

Want to see a surge in safety culture at your work?

Invest in your workers with training, support the learning process, encourage worker feedback and watch your return on investment grow with higher productivity and less worker turnover. Demonstrate your commitment to worker safety, support your business values and positive culture by prioritizing health and safety that minimizes risks and supports accident, injury and illness prevention with effective control measures.

Want to learn more about assessing and improving your workplace culture or providing customized training? visit The Safe Way – Workplace Safety.

Disclaimer: This information is provided in an attempt to heighten sensitivity, increase awareness, and enhance judgments on this topic. We encourage our audience to contact their legal advisor and regulatory body to learn more.

Resources

General Duties of Employers. Workers Compensation Act. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/19001_02#section21

About the Author

Margo Wipf,

Programs Director, The Safe Way – Workplace Safety and Human Resource Corporation

Margo is a solutions and values-based safety consultant and Director of Programs with The Safe Way – Workplace Safety and Human Resources Corporation. Her safety company’s vision is to ensure safe work behaviours and environments for all workers, including the continuing care sector.

She excels at helping business owners establish a system to identify risk management issues, employment standards; Worksafe requirements, and much more.

Her method of approach is what sets her apart; she coaches, motivates, and builds relationships that promote safety culture and mitigate risk. She collaborates with solo practitioners creating safety policies and procedures that fit company needs and meet regulatory compliance. For the solo practitioner, these deliverables save money, provide peace of mind, and more time to focus on business and client needs.

To learn more about Margo and how she can help your business, please visit her website at www.thesafeway.ca

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Health & Safety: What’s in Your First Aid Kit?

by CompanyOn | May 4, 2022 | All, Best Practice tips, Education

Health & Safety: What’s in Your First Aid Kit?

As a business owner, you’re responsible for providing first aid at your workplace when incidents happen. Whether minor or major injury occurs, have appropriate first aid equipment, supplies and attendants readily available that meet the needs of your worksite.

By providing initial and immediate care for injured employees, the possible severity of the injury can be lowered and a workplace fatality could even be prevented.

What are the first aid needs for my Company?

In order to determine the first aid needs for your workplace, perform an assessment.

The assessment outlines the hazards in the worksite, barriers to obtaining and the type of first aid treatment that will be needed if it should arise.

Check out WorkSafe BC on the 6 steps to first aid assessment that include:

The number of workplaces
Workplace hazard rating
Travel time to a hospital
Number of workers on a shift
Required first aid services for your worksite
Review your assessment

The assessment’s results will outline minimum levels of first aid, appropriate supplies, equipment and first aid attendants that may be needed for your site. From there, develop your procedures that outline how nurse practitioner employees call for first aid and where to find it.

Don’t Forget the Training

For solo practitioners owners, providing employees relevant training and supervision is key with emergency planning. Check out General Duties of Employers in the Workers Compensation Act for more information.

One aspect of training that works well for employee understanding and retention of procedures is having mock drills. Drills are a great way for staff to learn how to apply their knowledge and respond to incidents more confidently. Hold a staff de-briefing or huddle afterward, ask for input on what went well, and what could be improved, and amend where needed.

Where there’s involvement in safety, employees feel more confident with their roles and content with their employer. Active participation is a success in safety and builds positive momentum and motivation. Keep the motivation going and notice higher morale and productivity results. As the employer, providing training demonstrates your commitment to worker safety and supports a positive culture where employees can participate, build skills and feel empowered.

Want to learn more about Health & Safety? visit The Safe Way – Workplace Safety.

Disclaimer: This information is provided in an attempt to heighten sensitivity, increase awareness, and enhance judgments on this topic. We encourage our audience to contact their legal advisor and regulatory body to learn more.

Resources

First Aid Requirements. WorkSafeBC. (2021, April 22). Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://www.worksafebc.com/en/health-safety/create-manage/first-aid-requirements

General Duties of Employers. Workers Compensation Act. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/19001_02#section21

About the Author

Margo Wipf,

Programs Director, The Safe Way – Workplace Safety and Human Resource Corporation

Margo is a solutions and values-based safety consultant and Director of Programs with The Safe Way – Workplace Safety and Human Resources Corporation. Her safety company’s vision is to ensure safe work behaviours and environments for all workers, including the continuing care sector.

She excels at helping business owners establish a system to identify risk management issues, employment standards; Worksafe requirements, and much more.

Her method of approach is what sets her apart; she coaches, motivates, and builds relationships that promote safety culture and mitigate risk. She collaborates with solo practitioners creating safety policies and procedures that fit company needs and meet regulatory compliance. For the solo practitioner, these deliverables save money, provide peace of mind, and more time to focus on business and client needs.

To learn more about Margo and how she can help your business, please visit her website at www.thesafeway.ca

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Health & Safety: What do I do After a Staff Member Gets Hurt at Work?

by CompanyOn | Mar 2, 2022 | All, Best Practice tips, Education

Health & Safety: What do I do After a Staff Member's Been Hurt at Work?

As the owner of your business busy with maintaining quality patient care, the last thing you want to have to deal with is a workplace incident.

When workplace incidents happen, they can lead to injury, illness or damage. The associated costs can be substantial for the injured worker, their families, co-workers and the business. For the employer, the outcome may include increased WorkSafe BC claims, premiums and administrative penalties. For incidents that result in an injury or had the potential for causing a serious injury, it’s the employer’s responsibility to conduct an investigation. Investigations help determine what happened, the cause and hazards and how to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.

Do you Know the Four Stages of Conducting an Investigation?

Employers’ responsibilities include conducting investigations and reporting incidents to WorkSafe BC. Depending on the type of incident and it’s severity, the employer may also need to immediately report it to WorkSafe BC. Check out WorkSafe BC’s site for their Employer Incident Investigation Report (EIIR) and its associated Guide for Completing the EIIR to help you through the process. The EIIR captures relevant incident information and is divided into four stages of an investigation:

preliminary
interim corrective actions
full investigation
full corrective action

What are the Benefits of an Investigation?

Investigating incidents is a consultative process between employer and worker representatives. Participating in investigations lands within joint health and safety committee duties. Those who perform an investigation should be knowledgeable with workplace processes, policies and practices and OH&S legislation among other key sources of information. The process involves breaking down what happened and the “why’s” of an incident. Relevant information is gathered and analyzed and the root cause and contributing factors are determined. From this, the employer can implement a corrective action plan with accident prevention. Other benefits from conducting an investigation are:

Prevents recurrences
Identifies gaps in safety procedures
Identifies safety trends
Improves safety awareness

Let’s Talk About Safety at Work!

When the employer investigates incidents, it showcases their commitment to the process, meeting legal requirements and supports due diligence. For nurse practitioners, whether you’re an employee or employer, take part in brief, regular and frequent proactive safety talks. Check out SafeCare BC’s Safety Huddles page for ways to engage staff on conversations about workplace health and safety. This increases hazard recognition and reporting, employee understanding of work procedures and safety culture.

Want to learn more on Incident Investigations? Contact Margo Wipf with The Safe Way – Workplace Safety for accident investigation training.

Disclaimer: This information is provided in an attempt to heighten sensitivity, increase awareness, and enhance judgments on this topic. We encourage our audience to contact their legal advisor and regulatory body to learn more.

Resources

Conducting an Employer Investigation. WorkSafeBC. (2021, February 22). Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://www.worksafebc.com/en/health-safety/create-manage/incident-investigations/conducting-employer-investigation

Reporting incidents to WorkSafe BC. WorkSafeBC. (2021, April 22). Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://www.worksafebc.com/en/health-safety/create-manage/incident-investigations/reporting-incidents-worksafebc

Employer Incident Investigation Form. WORKSAFEBC. (2021, April 22). Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://www.worksafebc.com/en/resources/health-safety/forms/incident-investigation-report-form-52e40?lang=en

Guide for Completing the EIIR. WORKSAFEBC. (2021, April 22). Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://www.worksafebc.com/en/resources/health-safety/forms/incident-investigation-report-form-guide-52e40?lang=en

Safety Huddles. Safecare BC. (2019, December 11). Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://www.safecarebc.ca/safetyhuddles/

About the Author

Margo Wipf,

Programs Director, The Safe Way – Workplace Safety and Human Resource Corporation

Margo is a solutions and values-based safety consultant and Director of Programs with The Safe Way – Workplace Safety and Human Resources Corporation. Her safety company’s vision is to ensure safe work behaviours and environments for all workers, including the continuing care sector.

She excels at helping business owners establish a system to identify risk management issues, employment standards; Worksafe requirements, and much more.

Her method of approach is what sets her apart; she coaches, motivates, and builds relationships that promote safety culture and mitigate risk. She collaborates with solo practitioners creating safety policies and procedures that fit company needs and meet regulatory compliance. For the solo practitioner, these deliverables save money, provide peace of mind, and more time to focus on business and client needs.

To learn more about Margo and how she can help your business, please visit her website at www.thesafeway.ca

Ready to make the switch?

Try Our Platform Free for 14 days.

Start My Trial

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Schedule A Free 1:1 Personalized Demo

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