Minimizing The External Interruptions In Your Clinical Practice

Imagine you are going through your regular clinic day. You reviewed your schedule and know what to expect. You are reminding yourself to focus, concentrate and take care of one patient at a time. All seems to be going smoothly. You finished seeing a patient and you are in your office typing that patient’s chart. Your medical assistant walks in and asks if she should bring the next patient in the exam room. You answer “yes”. Although you are wondering why you were interrupted, you want to get back to your patient’s note as soon as possible. What was your last thought before being interrupted? It takes you quite a few seconds to figure that out.

As you continue to see your scheduled patients, the phone rings in the exam room. The front desk receptionist is calling you because a doctor is on the line to ask about a mutual patient. Throughout the day, you get interruptions from different staff members. You are doing your best not to distract yourself. Every time you are distracted by someone else, it takes you seconds to minutes to regain focus. What if you are interrupted ten times, twenty times or even more?

One of the biggest efficiency busters is interruption by someone else. When you are set in focusing on one patient at a time and your staff interrupts you, it takes a few moments to get back to what you are doing.

It takes you and your coworkers to minimize interruptions. You are prioritizing. You know what to do first. Let others help you uphold your priorities.

Set guidelines for your staff. List out situations when it is appropriate to interrupt you while you are in a patient room, such as if there is an emergency. The other day, there was a patient who passed out in the waiting room. That was an emergency. One of the nurses rushed and yelled at the door that they needed me. I sensed the urgency of her voice and excused myself promptly and politely from the patient in the exam room. Thankfully the patient who fainted was alright.

Make certain protocols clear so that it is not a question. For example, if you have two examination rooms to use, the medical assistant knows to bring the patient into an exam room when it is vacant. It is okay for the patient to wait a little bit in the exam room while you are seeing another patient.

Allow the staff to understand your style, especially when you are in a group practice with multiple physicians. We are all human beings with different personalities and naturally, different styles of workflow. That is okay. You find a way that can optimize your efficiency and let the staff know.

Another strategy you can incorporate is the door policy. When you have your office door open, it implies that you are open to questions and open to others to talk to you. You can make it clear that, although your door is open, do not start talking to you until you acknowledge your staff or wave your staff to enter.  When your door is closed, this means that you are doing something important or in a conference such that you cannot be interrupted.

Communication is always the key. Be flexible. Be ready to change your guidelines and rules as things come up in the practice. Sometimes you get to add more rules, sometimes you are there to modify some guidelines, other times you may have to do something outside your usual practice. Whatever it is, let your staff know right away. Establish a clear way of communicating with others. Make sure your staff is on the same page as you.

When you are getting multiple interruptions, track them. Are those made by the same one or two people? If yes, what can you do to change it such that there will be less interruptions?

When you get interrupted, even though it is not pleasant, it disrupts your mental flow, accept the situation and focus on what you can do. Make a prompt decision to either finish what you are doing or switch to the other task. Weigh the situations, set your priorities. You are doing your best to keep the workflow smoothly. At the end of the day, reflect on what went well, what did not go so well, and what you can do to improve your day and your efficiency. It is always a learning process. As you gain experience from your work day, you get to craft your day to work more efficiently.