According to the AMA’s Saving Time Playbook for Physicians, which Dr. Sinsky co-authored, other time-saving measures include good prescription refill management, expanded rooming, empowered nursing and annual wellness visits to reduce patients’ acute care needs.5
Pre-visit planning and lab work can also help physicians decrease the number of emails they receive, particularly when seeing a rheumatology patient for ongoing follow-up. For new patients, if a rheumatologist has a close relationship with the referring physician, she suggested finding ways to encourage the referring provider to set up pre-visit lab appointments. “The way we do this in my own practice is we keep the mantra, ‘The next appointment starts today,’” she said.
Explore the AMA’s STEPS Forward website. The site features toolkits with checklists and calculators to determine time and cost savings and help physicians plan ahead. It also includes videos and success stories showing how these innovations can be implemented.
Missed the town hall? Watch the recording here.
Renée Bacher is a health and medical writer based in Louisiana.
References
- Medscape. Rheumatologist Lifestyle, Happiness & Burnout Report 2020, slide 2. 2020 Feb 12.
- Medscape. Rheumatologist Lifestyle, Happiness & Burnout Report 2020, slide 3. 2020 Feb 12.
- Sinsky C, Colligan L, Li L, et al. Allocation of physician time in ambulatory practice: a time and motion study in 4 specialties. Ann Intern Med. 2016 Dec 6;165(11):753-760.
- Physicians spend more than half of work day on electronic health records. University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. 2017 Sept 11.
- Jin J, Reimer J, Brown M, Sinsky C. STEPS Forward Saving Time Playbook for physicians. American Medical Association. 2021.
