Many practices are overwhelmed because they’re doing too much of the wrong things. In Part 2 of this series, we discussed delegation to be sure that the right people are assigned to the right tasks. This week, we’ll focus on elimination. Let’s start with a question: What could you stop doing that nobody would miss and would free up time to focus on higher-value tasks?
Start by defining low-value tasks. Ask yourself which tasks consume time or resources and don’t add meaningful value to patient care, revenue, or staff morale.
Next, identify what to cut. Some examples might be repetitive tasks that could be automated (such as patient recall), lengthy meetings with no clear outcomes, or even certain clinical tests. This step may require you to be ruthless in eliminating tasks that are engrained into your practice routine. Don’t allow the sentiment, “We’ve always done it this way” to be a barrier for change.
Last, test and replace. Consider this an experiment. For a period of time—like 30 days—stop doing a task that you’re unsure whether to eliminate or keep and see what impact it has. Did anyone even notice? If you find it was missed and valuable, replace it.
Eliminating the “wrong things” is a great step toward a more efficient practice.
