Are your doctor visits too short?
Do you also find yourself waiting at the doctor’s office forever for your appointment?
I have enough time to catch up on my emails and page through several magazines before the nurse comes to get me.
The visit with the check-in nurse is short. Then, I’m told to wait for the doctor as they will be right in. Tick tock. By the time the doctor comes in, I only get to see them for about two minutes as they breeze through my chart.
A survey was released that states both doctors and patients agree that visit time is too short.
According to the Physician Foundation’s 2017 Patient Survey Report, 9 out of 10 patients believe that a relationship with their doctor is crucial to the value of their care. Unfortunately, only 11% of patients feel they have enough face time with their physician.
I remember once being told I could only schedule an appointment with my primary doctor. They were so busy, I couldn’t make an appointment until the following week. When I arrived, I was told that my doctor was “too behind” and wouldn’t be able to see me. I was seen by a very nice Physician’s Assistant, but it wasn’t my doctor. All the time I had waited for a brief visit, and then only to find out I wasn’t even getting seen by my primary physician!
The face-time we get with physicians is extremely important and connected to the quality of patient care. Many patients are satisfied with their physicians. But over half of the population surveyed stated that the time they get with them is limited.
Another recent study by the University of Wisconsin and American Medical Association found that physicians were spending 5.9 hours every weekday on burdensome EHR tasks. The providers in this survey were spending almost two hours performing EHR activities for every one hour of patient care.
With the value of patient care rising, physicians must be better trained in administrative tasks. Optimizing the EHR or EMR to work for physicians is one way to gain efficiency. Looking at alternative tools that can help reduce cost and time is another.
Physicians should be focusing on patients. Patients should be spending more time in a room with physicians. To do this, something has to change with the EHR process.
We have the answer for this problem to help physicians provide better patient care. To allow doctors to be in a room with a patient for more than two minutes.
Extract’s intelligent automated data capture and document classification platform has allowed healthcare organizations across the world solve this. It reduces the amount of time physicians spend in EHR tasks and allows patients to feel more satisfied with the care they receive.
To learn more about this topic and how we help automate burdensome manual tasks, check out this blog on "Your Care is Only As Good As Your EMR/EHR Allows You to Be"
About the Author: Kari Siegenthaler
Kari Siegenthaler is a Marketing Specialist for the Marketing Department at Extract. Kari attained her Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communications and convergent media at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Wearing the “hat of all trades,” she has an unusual, hybrid ability to write narratives, creatively craft meaningful messages, and design graphically compelling images. Kari is passionate about effective communication and developing strategy plans that allow Extract to succeed and excel way beyond their goals.