5 Benefits of Keeping up with your Patient Files

Thanks to everyone who participated in the InspireDVM Fall File Challenge this year. Seeing your progress and getting your feedback was truly wonderful and I appreciate so much being able to spend a month with you. Finding ways to improve our efficiency throughout the day so we can walk out the door at the end of the day, on time and with all our work done, feeling light and happy and ready for whatever’s waiting for us in our lives outside of work is why I do what I do at InspireDVM.

So, today I just wanted to share a few ways that keeping on top of my patient files throughout the day has improved my Q.O.L..

1. I have a less cluttered desk. I feel so fortunate to have a desk, and an office space with computers and phones, in which to work. I recall a time when I sat on a stack of phone books because the clinic I was at didn’t have a chair for me. But you know what immediately makes the doctor’s office not feel calm and functional? A giant stack of files on my desk in various states of completion, all needing my attention yesterday, or the day before, or the day before that. The tone for the day when I walk in and see a clear, tidy desk vs. when I walk in to the stack is like night and day. The tidy desk makes me feel calm and spacious and able to go with the flow of the day. The stack makes me feel like I’ve already lost control and will be playing catch-up all day long. So, keeping up with my files leads to tidy desk, leads to calm start of the day leads to everything goes more smoothly.

2. I’m more efficient with my file writing throughout the day if I don’t get backed-up. When I’m behind on my files and revisiting cases later, it takes so much longer to write them up. That mental shift from whatever I was doing, to recalling and visualizing the patient in the appointment and trying to remember what I did puts a strain on my time and my mental energy. If I can just write files when the appointment is fresh in my mind, it is so much faster and easier.

3. If my files are done and I’m not stressed out by a stack of files or losing time trying to recall appointments after the fact (see points 1 and 2) it frees up my mental bandwidth. In this extra space in the back of my mind, I can be mulling over cases, and this, I think, is where some of the best medical solutions can be found. There is certainly creativity and resourcefulness needed to make the best, most creative recommendations for our clients. And when our brains are stressed and constantly playing catch-up, we miss those opportunities to problem-solve.

4. It’s easier for my co-workers to do their jobs if my files are completed. How many times have your staff walked into the office and tried to discreetly shuffle through all the files in each doctor’s designated stack, searching for one file because they’ve got a client on the phone with a question? If you’re computerized, the search for the paper file isn’t an issue, but there are still problems with case continuity and client communication if medical records aren’t completed in a timely fashion. If I can keep up with my files, it doesn’t just make me feel better, it helps the whole team work more efficiently.

5. I’m more likely to leave work on time if my files are done. For me, file catch-up at the end of the day is the biggest reason I get held-up at work. As a GP, I rarely have a true emergency come in at the end of the day. It happens, for sure, but it’s so uncommon that I don’t mind being at work late at all if it’s because I’m hands-on with a patient who just arrived and is in critical need of assistance. What I strongly dislike though, is being at work late doing a mountain of paper-work that I didn’t keep up with throughout the day. The fact that it’s my own fault that I’m there late makes it worse. But, the flip-side of that is that it’s in my power to take charge and change things.

Isn’t it a freeing thought to think that I can leave work on time with all my files done if I set my mind to it, modify a few things and develop some new habits? It’s hard work at first, you’re changing your mindset, changing your way of doing things and creating a new habit. But, from this discipline comes flexibility, If you can put the systems in place to facilitate the flow of your day, you gain ease and flow and freedom. 

I’d love to hear about the ways finishing your files has benefited you, at work and overall. And, if you’ve got tips to share with others or, particular challenges when it comes to getting your files done, please get in touch at jessica@inspireDVM.ca.

Keep hustling folks,

Jessica