Some, including Tennessee's Medical Specialty Clinic, employ pods or care-teams composed of clusters of no more than four physicians with supporting aides and nurses. Add more physicians to the cluster, Ms. Woodcock said, and the distance between exam rooms reduces physician efficiency. Understaffed and inadequate facilities that force physicians to wait for patients to arrive or do their own workups end up costing more than they save. The notion of spending money to make money applies to the re-engineering process itself. Find tools to streamline paperwork .
Paperwork created by managed care can swallow countless hours of physician time.
Many consultants believe electronic records can relieve much of that paperwork burden. Remember that talk isn't cheap . Find better ways to bond with your patients . Walking a patient to the lab or checkout may generate goodwill, but consultants say that the gesture wastes too much of your time. Besides, they point out, a narrow, public hallway isn't the best place for private conversation.