- September 10, 2024
What’s the Best Tool to Save Time in Clinics? We Found the Answer!
Time is one of the most valuable resources in any clinic. Whether it’s handling patient inquiries, coordinating appointments, or ensuring a smooth workflow for healthcare professionals, administrative tasks often take up more time than expected. The more patients you see, the more administrative burden piles up, leaving less time for tasks that drive revenue or improve patient care. This creates a major pain point for clinics across the country. But what if there was a better way to handle these daily challenges? What if there was a solution that allowed your clinic to reduce admin time significantly, leaving your team free to focus on more critical aspects of their jobs? The solution may be simpler than you think.
In this blog, we’ll break down the common problems clinics face when managing patient wait times, explore potential solutions, and find the ultimate tool to help clinics save thousands in labour costs every year.
The Time Drain: A Universal Problem for Clinics
It’s no secret that running a clinic involves a high volume of patient interaction. Whether you manage a walk-in clinic, a pharmacy, or an allied health practice, one challenge remains the same: time. Your team is busy handling routine calls, checking schedules, confirming appointments, and answering patient inquiries.
While these tasks are essential, they’re also repetitive and time-consuming. For many clinics, phone calls about wait times or service availability consume a large chunk of each day. Patients calling to ask, “How long will I have to wait?” or “When is the next available slot?” may seem harmless at first, but over the course of a week, these inquiries can take up a significant portion of your staff’s time. According to industry data, a typical clinic could spend up to 2-3 hours per day just fielding these inquiries. That’s 10-15 hours a week spent answering the same questions, which could otherwise be used to complete more revenue-generating tasks.
But it doesn’t stop there. This constant back-and-forth also creates patient frustration. In an age where people expect real-time updates and immediate answers, waiting on the phone or being told to call back later simply isn’t good enough anymore. The longer the wait, the more patients feel ignored and dissatisfied. This can have a direct impact on patient retention and your clinic’s reputation.
The Common Solutions—But Do They Work?
Given how widespread the issue is, it’s no surprise that clinics have tried various solutions to deal with it. Some of the more common options include:
Hiring Additional Staff:
When clinics become overwhelmed by patient inquiries, one of the first solutions they turn to is hiring more administrative staff. On the surface, this seems like a practical fix—more hands mean more tasks can be managed, right? However, this approach comes with its own set of challenges. Adding staff means higher labour costs, which is not always feasible, especially for smaller clinics with tight budgets.
Additionally, while hiring more people can reduce the immediate strain, it doesn’t eliminate the root problem. Your staff will still be fielding the same repetitive questions, and the efficiency of the clinic won’t improve substantially.
Manual Updates:
Some clinics attempt to manage wait times and patient inquiries by manually updating schedules and service availability on their websites or over the phone. While this may work for some practices, it’s a labor-intensive and outdated solution. Manually updating wait times requires constant attention, and if your staff is already stretched thin, keeping this information accurate can become a burden.
Phone Automation Systems:
Phone automation systems, or phone trees, are another option many clinics explore. By directing patients through a series of automated prompts, clinics can provide information without needing to dedicate live staff to every call. But here’s the catch: phone trees are often impersonal, frustrating, and outdated. Patients can quickly grow tired of navigating through multiple prompts, which often leads to hang-ups or negative experiences.
In short, while these options can help, they don’t address the core issue: efficiency. What clinics need is a tool that can streamline patient interactions, reduce labor costs, and improve the overall patient experience.
Introducing Medimap: The Smarter Solution
What if there was a way to eliminate the majority of those repetitive patient inquiries without increasing labor costs or relying on outdated systems? That’s where Medimap comes in.
Medimap offers real-time updates on wait times and service availability. By using this tool, patients can check wait times at your clinic before they even arrive, meaning fewer calls to your front desk and more informed patients walking through your doors.
Here’s how it works:
- Real-Time Updates: Your clinic can provide up-to-the-minute updates on wait times, so patients always have the most accurate information.
- Patient Self-Check-In: Patients can check in to the clinic virtually, reducing the need for them to call or arrive in person only to wait.
- Improved Patient Experience: With real-time information at their fingertips, patients feel more in control of their experience, which boosts satisfaction and reduces frustration.
- Fewer Phone Calls: Clinics using the wait time widget report a significant reduction in incoming calls, freeing up staff to focus on more important tasks.
The best part? Clinics that implement Medimap see a reduction in admin time by 2-3 hours per day. That adds up to over 700 hours of saved time annually, which can then be redirected to tasks that improve patient care or increase clinic revenue. And, by eliminating up to 80% of repetitive phone calls, clinics can save thousands in labour costs each year.
Why Medimap is the Best Choice
Now, you might be wondering how Medimap compares to other solutions. Here’s why it stands out:
- Cost-Effective: Unlike hiring additional staff, Medimap requires minimal ongoing investment. Once implemented, it operates automatically, reducing labour costs significantly.
- Easy to Use: There’s no need for complicated systems or extra training. Medimap is simple to implement and integrates seamlessly with your existing workflow.
- Proven Results: Clinics across Canada are already using Medimap with great success, reporting improved patient satisfaction and increased efficiency.
Ready to Save Thousands in Labor Costs?
So, what’s the best way to streamline your clinic’s operations and save time? Medimap offers a proven, effective solution that reduces admin tasks and frees up your staff to focus on what really matters: patient care.
By implementing this tool, your clinic can cut down on repetitive inquiries, save thousands in labour costs, and enhance the patient experience—all while improving your bottom line.
It’s Time to Take Action
If your clinic is looking for a smarter way to manage patient inquiries and reduce the time spent on routine administrative tasks, Medimap is the answer. Don’t let outdated processes hold your clinic back. Start saving time and money today by exploring how this innovative tool can help transform your clinic’s workflow.
Click here to learn more about how Medimap can help you save thousands every year!
Discover a streamlined way to manage appointments and increase visibility. Join our network of healthcare professionals today at medimap.ca.
