“Streamlining” has become something of a buzzword in the healthcare setting. Clinics up and down the country want their stakeholders to believe that they conduct a business-like operation, maximising the efficiency with which they use their resource. 

In reality, though, that’s rarely how it works out. Providing healthcare is messy and complicated. And most providers really don’t have good systems in place. 

So what does a streamlined clinic look like in practice? And how do you become one? 

Send Patients Correspondence In Email Format

The first and perhaps the most basic tool in your arsenal is the humble email. Yes, the technology has now been around for more than a quarter of a century, but you would be surprised just how many clinics still aren’t using it to its full effect. 

Email serves three main purposes for today’s healthcare establishments:

• Sending patients forms and paperwork for them to complete online before they arrive at the clinic
• Establishing relationships and building rapport through welcome emails and newsletter updates
• Telling patients what they need to bring to their next appointment, including ID, medical devices or forms

The great thing about email is that you can automate most of it. Scheduling apps will send out correspondence at times of your choosing, so neither you nor your staff has to physically click “send.”

Update Your Data Interfaces

Healthcare providers and clinics must keep tabs on enormous troves of patient data. Keeping track of it all using intuitive tools, however, is a massive challenge. Often, manual administration of the nuts and bolts is just not practical thanks to HIPAA requirements. 

Clinics, therefore, may benefit from Oracle forms migration. The idea here is to transition your systems from your current data interface to one that operates in the cloud. It helps to streamline the entire data side of your business and makes everything more manageable. While it requires a fair amount of technical expertise, you don’t actually have to control the process yourself. Third parties can do it all for you, all while remaining compliant. 

Keep Patient Waiting Times Down

Nobody wants to arrive for a scheduled appointment at the clinic, only to have to wait a long time for their appointment. They want to get it out of the way as quickly as possible. 

Unfortunately, many clinics make basic scheduling errors. The most common is double-booking – something you can quickly resolve by using a cloud-based scheduling app. Other errors include things like failing to leave time for emergency appointments and having appointments of different lengths. 

Smart scheduling systems, however, allow you to deal with these problems. You can assess patient needs before they show up and then allocate a suitable length of time with the doctor. 

Group Patient Visits

Finally, you can streamline your services by grouping patient visits, depending on their condition. 

If you have a group of patients who all need the same nursing services, you can schedule 

them to arrive, one after the other, making it easier to administer care. 

Creating a streamlined clinic can be a challenge, but with the right approach, you can make it happen.