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The best time management tips for physiciansWhile there are many hectic jobs that require people to have excellent time management skills in order to do everything that must be done throughout the day, few �elds require as much time management as health care.

Historically, providers have always been crunched for time, and now as they work to implement all the new technology in medi-cine on the market and comply with health care reform changes, they are more pressed than ever. This is why now is a good time for physicians, nurses and administrators to re-examine how they are spending their time, and look for ways in which they could improve.

Anyone within the health care sector who does not understand the importance of time management should consider what Christopher Frings, Ph.D., a health care consultant and speaker from Alabama, told Advance Healthcare Network.

Wasting just 1 hour a day means in 10 years you will have lost 3,650 hours or 152 days of your life. Every hour is important.

”Frings told the information provider.

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Ask for helpPhysicians who �nd that their practices are not utilizing their time well should call a meeting with their sta� to address the problem. An article published in the Canadian Medical Association journal recommended that this meeting happen at a time that is mutually convenient for a physician and his or her sta�, when they are not busy treating patients. The article suggested that it should happen on a Saturday or Sunday, and that doctors pay their sta� for the extra time they will have to spend at work. Together, they should all develop strategies that might reduce ine�ciencies within a practice, and set goals for the coming weeks and months.

Learn the art of prioritizingProper prioritizing is the key to time management. This is why Frings recommended that physicians make a to-do list each day, and give each item on it a letter - either A, B, C or D. Things that have been given an "A" should be taken care of immediately, while those with a "D" can be done at the end of the day or even pushed to tomorrow, if necessary. This could also help physicians who are trying to set up a timetable for implementing electronic health records or other new pieces of health information technology. Advance Healthcare Network also spoke to Lisa Henderson, a medical technologist now working for a pro�ciency testing provider, who explained how she would use a calendar to keep track of steps that needed to be prioritized on such projects.

"On most of my projects, I evaluate how long it is going to take me to accomplish it," she said. "I put things on my calendars as a reminder. I usually tend to try to have my calendar current for 6 to 12 months out. Normally, I set that up with that frequency and add to it. Therefore, I can evaluate my time. Keep the calendar current most of the time so you don't feel like you're ending up spending a lot of time catching up."

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Thankfully, many experts have compiled lists of the best tips to help individuals in the health care industry better manage their time.

Here are some of the top ideas:

Establish blocksO�en, physicians will try to do too many di�erent things all at once, which can cause confusion and force them to slow down throughout the course of their day. This is why they should consider establishing blocks of time that are dedicated to just one thing. For example, one block will be for surgical assisting and another can be for minor o�ce procedures. During �u season, physicians should block o� time to administer shots, or consider giving that job to one nurse in a practice who can dedicate their time to that.

Ignore the mythsBJCHealthcare published an article explaining that there are many myths associated with time management that may be keeping professionals from doing it correctly. For example, many individuals believe that time management involves getting more things done in less time. However, in reality, time management is about learning how to get more important things done each day, and eliminating distractions or other tasks that do not need to be accomplished immediately.

Furthermore, the article pointed out that the whole idea of "time management" can be �awed, since in reality people can never really have total control over each minute of their day - especially in health care. This is important for practitioners to keep in mind, so they do not panic if the unexpected pops up and throws their day o� course, they merely have to accept it, handle the situation and move on.

Think about dictationOne way physicians can make better use of their time is to consider dictating their charts to another individual in their practice, rather than doing them themselves. Whether a practice uses an EHR system or is still working with paper-based �les, it could bene�t a doctor to delegate the task of actually typing or writing charts to another person.

Take advantage of technologyThere is a great deal of new technology in medicine that is designed to help providers achieve better time management. For example, once providers get the hang of EHRs, these systems should cut down signi�cantly on the amount of time physicians will have to spend getting information from patients before each visit. Doctors should look into all of the devices and applications on the market that could help them reduce their workload.

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