6 Ways To Improve Clinic Management in 2024
byAre you responsible for managing a clinic or healthcare facility? If so, here are some things you need to know about clinic management:
- 72% of workers prioritize work-life balance when choosing a job
- Automating redundant tasks can improve satisfaction among staff
- Increasing clinic management efficiency offers cost savings
- Getting team members involved in management processes boosts morale
- Mobile apps offer a great tool for streamlining your workflows and scheduling processes
Managing a clinical facility can be incredibly rewarding. However, it’s also a challenge. Clinic management requires you to juggle at-odds responsibilities, such as meeting the work-life balance needs of your staff while composing complex schedules and ensuring that the facility has enough people on hand to care for patients.
With so much on your plate, it’s easy to get bogged down with scheduling and other redundant work. Unfortunately, these tasks take away from more dynamic tasks. The end result is expensive overages and operational inefficiencies.
The good news is that you can improve clinic management using some actionable tips. Learn more about these strategies and other important topics that will help you move ahead.
Table of contents
- What is clinic management?
- The benefits of efficient clinic management
- 6 effective clinic management tips
- Using staff scheduling and payroll software to save time on clinic management tasks
What is clinic management?
Clinic management is the process of coordinating all of a healthcare facility’s operations, including patient care, administrative workflows, and financial functions. It involves implementing efficient systems for scheduling, billing, electronic recordkeeping, and patient communication. Effective clinic or hospital management also includes overseeing staff and ensuring that team members can focus on patient care.
Think of yourself as the buffer between healthcare workers and tedious admin tasks. You want your highly-trained professionals to prioritize their core work. However, it’s important not to overload yourself either.
Effective clinic management requires you to balance:
- Doing things yourself
- Delegating some tasks
- Automating where possible
The better you become at these three skills, the more efficient your facility will be.
The benefits of efficient clinic management
Life as a clinic manager can be stressful. After all, everyone’s depending on you. This includes patients, providers, and stakeholders.
The good news is that when you win at clinic management, everyone reaps the benefits. By improving the way you oversee your facility, you can:
Boost employee satisfaction
People want to work at well-run organizations. If you manage your clinic more effectively, your team is going to be happier and more satisfied. How does that benefit your bottom line?
For starters, companies with high rates of job satisfaction enjoy 31% more productivity. That should come as no surprise. Happy employees work harder and show up ready to get things done. They are also less likely to call in sick or need a lot of time off.
Improve patient experiences
According to Forbes, 60% of Americans have recently had a negative healthcare experience. Researchers also found that the following factors are essential for a positive healthcare experience:
- Providers who listen
- Clear communication
- A specific plan of care
- Courtesy and respect
You have a great team of providers. However, if your staff is overworked and has too much on their schedule, they are going to feel rushed. This means that communication, listening, and other aspects of the care experience will suffer.
Winning at clinic management leads to better staffing and more engaged employees. In turn, patients will feel like their needs are being met.
Save time and money
Individually, you’ll save countless hours by implementing more efficient processes. For instance, healthcare payroll software can automate time tracking and reduce your workload.
Adopting a scheduling app is another game changer. You can customize schedules, create templates, and more. The best apps feature tools for sharing shift schedules with your staff—this automation keeps everyone in the loop.
Increase staff retention
Bad clinic management leads to issues like burnout, short staffing, and long patient wait times. Overworking your staff is another side effect of inefficient management practices. According to the Pew Research Center, 20% of employees who quit in 2021 cited “working too many hours” as a major factor in their decision.
Eliminating these issues through better employee management can drastically increase retention. Holding onto your best workers is vital for business continuity and patient outcomes.
6 effective clinic management tips
Everyone can agree that clinic management is important. The question is, how do you get better at it? After all, you and your team already work hard.
As the old saying goes, work smarter, not harder. Applying a few simple tips to your management style will create a better clinic environment for everyone. Take the following steps:
1. Seek anonymous feedback from staff and patients to identify areas for improvement
Don’t make changes for the sake of it. Figure out what your weaknesses are and build a plan to address them. The best way to find out where you are falling short is to ask.
Seek feedback from patients and staff. Make the process anonymous. This way, people will feel confident sharing their true feelings.
Even if what you learn is mostly negative, be receptive. Once you know what needs to change, you can make things better.
2. Gather insights on your clinic’s flow to determine staffing needs
Examine patient trends over the last year. Look for patterns in the flow of work. Suppose that the late shift constantly gets slammed with work. However, the morning shift almost never has all of their rooms full.
In this instance, you may need to adjust your scheduling. Moving a few team members to the late shift can balance out the workload. You just solved your staffing problem without bringing in any new employees.
3. Honor your employees’ scheduling needs as much as possible to encourage a better work-life balance
According to some estimates, two-thirds of American full-time workers don’t have a good work-life balance. Offering better schedules can provide improved balance for workers. This is not only excellent for retention but also for attracting new team members. People looking for more balance will view your facility as a great place to work.
Many healthcare facilities use rotating schedules. These schedules offer better flexibility than standard alternatives. For instance, team members who work 12-hour blocks can swap shifts to address personal responsibilities. This way, you’ve got adequate staffing, and they don’t have to miss out on family events. Everyone wins.
4. Have a mobile team communication method
Some shift managers send emails, others send texts or make phone calls. This leads to confusion. You need a standardized way of communicating with your team.
One of the best approaches involves an app with built-in messaging tools. When I Work is a great example. The mobile app offers secure team messaging and push notifications. This ensures that everyone can stay in the loop.
With When I Work, all employees know where to turn for important updates. If a team member needs to message their manager, they can do so directly in the app. They’ll have a record of the communication, which keeps people accountable.
5. Send out appointment reminders and intake forms to patients in advance
Clinic management also involves keeping your patients in the loop. This means sending out appointment reminders. Ideally, you should remind them of upcoming appointments about a week out, and send a second update the day before. This gives them plenty of opportunity to cancel or reschedule.
You should also send them intake forms ahead of time. This gives patients a chance to fill out any paperwork before they arrive, cutting down on wait times. It also reduces the administrative burden on your intake team.
6. Implement software to automate and centralize your clinic operations
Do you ever feel like your processes are disjointed? If so, it’s time to centralize clinic management with new tech tools. A full-service payroll software like When I Work combines multiple processes like time tracking, staff scheduling, and record-keeping.
When I Work doesn’t just centralize data. It also automates several processes. The end result is less work for you and your team.
Using staff scheduling and payroll software to save time on clinic management tasks
Now you’ve got lots of great ideas to improve your clinic management capabilities. While all of these strategies will make an impact on your efficiency, upgrading your software represents the best option. With When I Work, you’ll enjoy near-instant benefits like:
- Better visibility
- Simpler scheduling
- Increased efficiency
- Time and cost savings
- Happier staff
- Improved communication
Once you eliminate tedious work, you’ll have time to focus on more important tasks, such as providing top-quality healthcare to your patients.
Try When I Work to improve your clinic management with automated employee scheduling and more
With these tips, you can turn your clinic into a nimble, efficient facility. In turn, you’ll unlock benefits like:
- Improved patient care
- Enhanced experiences
- Better morale
- Cost savings
- Less stress
Ready to elevate your clinic management capabilities? If so, When I Work offers the most efficient means of modernizing your facility. Sign up for a free trial and take the hassle out of managing your clinic.
