Changes that could be made to maximize patient throughput, surgeries and revenue without compromising the quality of medical care.
There are several changes and options that could help maximize patient throughput and revenue without compromising the quality and standards of medical care at Dr. Christopher’s orthopedic clinic. These options include hiring more surgeons, reducing the length of changeover time for the two surgeons, increasing the amount of hours the surgeons’ work every day and creating some time to see patients on Fridays and weekends.
These changes could enable the surgeons attend to more patients and increase their revenue without compromising the standards of quality care. To avoid compromising the quality of medical care, the surgeons could hire a professional to review the medical records of patients and draft reports on their specific needs.
First, the clinic could hire additional surgeons to cater for the large number of patients in need of surgeries. With more surgeons working at the clinic, more patients will be attended to, and that will increase the revenue of the clinic. The quality of the medical care will not be compromised because the surgeons will have enough time to rest and review the records of patients.
Increasing the number of surgeons to attend to the large number of patients being served by the two surgeons will improve effectiveness and efficiency. However, they should not hire more than two surgeons because they will incur high expenses and the number of patients might not change.
Secondly, Dr. Christopher could reduce the changeover period by few minutes to create additional time to attend to an additional patient every day. In addition, they could reduce the length of time for lunch by a few minutes. Combining these minutes that they cut off from their other schedules, they could create enough time to attend to an additional patient at the end of the day.
For example, Cartilage knee repair and Achilles tendon repair take 30 minutes each. If they reduce the changeover time by 15 minutes and lunchtime by 20 minutes, they could have time to operate on one patient at the end of the day.
Thirdly, they could increase the amount of time they work every week by one or two hours. The surgeon changeover time and surgery time for the orthopedic surgeries are different. For example, Achilles tendon repair and ACL ligament repair require 50 minutes each to complete the procedures.
They require surgeon changeover time of 20 minutes and surgery time of 30 minutes. If they increased the amount of time they work each day by one hour, they could be able to attend to an additional patient with a requirement that needs a little time. They could either choose to come to work earlier than they do or leave work later than they currently do.
Fourthly, they could create some time on Fridays and weekends to attend to additional patients. The two surgeons do not work on Fridays and weekends. Therefore, if they could set aside some hours to attend to patients, they could increase their productivity. For example, they could set aside two hours on Friday and Saturday.
On Sunday, they could use it to rest and spend time with their families but in case of an emergency, they could spare some time to attend to the patient. These hours could be used to carry out the complex surgical procedures that lack sufficient time to be carried out on weekdays. They could also dedicate Fridays and weekends to orthopedic procedures that require more time because of their complexity.
They could hire a professional to conduct patient reviews and prepare reports on the different needs of various patients. This professional could be useful in making the work of the surgeons easier by saving them time and assisting them during surgeries. The surgeons need sufficient changeover time because they are usually very tired after surgeries.
This professional could assist them during surgeries so that they are not overworked or highly tired after the surgery. This could help in reducing the changeover time they require for rest and review of patients’ medical records. They could also consider synchronizing their work schedules so that they can work together on certain days.
Orthopedic surgery procedures such as shoulder replacement, hip replacement and knee replacement require a lot of time. The surgeons could consider carrying out these procedures together. It is difficult and tiresome for one surgeon to conduct a surgery for three hours without getting excessively tired.
Final recommendations
First, Dr. Christopher should hire additional surgeons, may two or three. They should hire highly qualified surgeons to ensure the quality of medical care is not compromised. Their tight schedules do not allow them to focus all their time on patients at the clinic because they have other responsibilities. In addition, they need time for their families and sufficient rest.
They should hire a surgeon who does not have many responsibilities and who is highly qualified. The additional surgeon could attend to patients who require simple surgeries such as cartilage knee repair and Achilles tendon repair that are not very demanding. Dr. Christopher and his fellow surgeon could then attend to patients who require complex surgery procedures.
This will ensure that the quality of medical care is maintained and patients do not lose confidence in the quality of services offered at the clinic. Secondly, they should consider setting aside time on Fridays and weekends to attend to more patients. The time they dedicate to patients at the clinic during weekdays is not sufficient. For example, surgeries are only carried out from 7 am to 12 noon only. The surgeons dedicate their afternoon time seeing patients at the clinic and hospital.
They should consider setting aside two or three hours in the afternoon for surgeries so that patients who are unable to come during the first half of the day can also be attended to. Thirdly, they should decrease the changeover time between surgeries by hiring an assistant. The assistant’s job will be reviewing patient medical records and making reports on the various needs of different patients. This could help the surgeons save some time that they could use at the end of the day to attend to some patients with minor cases of surgery.
In addition, the assistant could help them during surgeries in order to make their work easier and less tiresome. This will improve their efficiency and productivity because they will not be overly tired at the end of the day. The most important aspect of ensuring improved efficiency and productivity is to create more time to attend to more patients at the clinic. In addition, getting more help by hiring additional surgeons and an assistant is necessary.