Indeed, managing medical clinics can be a challenge for doctors. Office management involves various simultaneous responsibilities, such as organizing data, financial control, personnel administration, marketing and patient experience, inter alia.
As many specialists do not have technical knowledge in business administration, they may face difficulties in the area.
Therefore, it is critical to develop strategies that assure daily practicality and productivity in the already busy routine of those healthcare professionals. More than that, tools which help increase services and improve results.
Read below about the five best practices in administration of medical clinics.
Medical softwares for data organization and quick access
Nowadays, medical softwares help automating all the office internal processes. Storage of electronic records and data from doctors, as well as financial and administrative staff, are among their main functionalities.
This way, managing medical clinics becomes faster and more efficient. Thereafter, it also relieves professionals who work in various duties and office, besides studying.
For example, some programs even send reminders and ask to confirm the patient appointment. Undoubtedly, it is a great benefit, for it is frequent for the patient to miss an appointment.
Progresses on technology have changed service relations. Presently, the customer is a protagonist: he/she has more decision power in hands and demands optimal experience during the whole service process. Moreover, they influence consumption choices of friends, relatives and followers on the internet.
The patient also fits into this scenario. He/she goes through a journey before arriving at your office. There are, basically, five steps: symptoms identification, decision for setting an appointment, search for the best physician, healthcare service and its further evaluation.
It is, therefore, fundamental to understand and map the patient’s journey, in order to improve in-clinic experience. Consequently, it increases chances of acquiring more patients and building their loyalty.
In fact, they report easy-to-solve issues. Check out some actions that increase user satisfaction:
Possibility of setting appointments online;
Comfortable office;
Avoiding delays;
Setting a quality standard for services;
Reducing time of waiting between the patient’s journey steps;
Humanized service;
Investment in technologies for a more agile service and more assertive diagnostics.
Sound financial management
Undoubtedly, good financial management is one of the main requisites to avoid losses and decrease clinic costs. For that, it is necessary to develop an assertive planning of expenses and investments.
In this sense, it is important to recognize and measure resources involved in all areas of the clinic. Therefore, you will have available values at hand to decide what direction to take and how to apply each one of them efficiently.
Some tips to help you on this goal follow below:
Have a proper control of your cash flow;
Do not mix up personal and clinic accounts;
Automate internal processes;
Have a sound financial planning;
Follow expenses and incomes;
Use a good medical clinic management system.
People management
Recruiting and retaining talents is also a great challenge in medical clinic management. This area also needs close attention, since it is directly linked to the user experience, for example.
Therefore, some actions may help improving the staff work. Check them out:
Encourage participation in strategic matters
Give voice to employees. Create an environment where he/she not only feels safe to opine, but also motivated to debate key subjects.
Offer incentive programs
This, in fact, is one of the measures that help engagement and recruitment of good professionals. It may consist in money rewards or life experiences, as trips, for example, according to employee performance and results delivered.
Define a career plan
Career stagnation is one of the main de-motivations among professionals. Therefore, offer a clear and attractive career plan so that your staff knows about their chances of development.
Invest in training
Since the healthcare sector constantly evolves, it is essential that your employees receive training from your office. In addition, that tool improves motivation and service quality, once more with positive effects on patient experience.
Digital presence
The ascension of internet and social media makes it essential for trademarks and companies to be present and accessible for customers. That includes your office.
Most of the patients search the internet for information about services. Therefore, it is worth betting on a website for your clinic, as well as profiles in social media as Facebook and Instagram. After all, nowadays these are important communication tools to build user loyalty.
Undoubtedly, advertisement can be a powerful ally to increase your clinic visibility and create a confidence link with your patient.
Have you ever heard of medical marketing? Ascension of social media has made it essential for trademarks and companies to be present and accessible for their customers. That includes your office.
Undoubtedly, advertisement can be a powerful ally to increase your clinic visibility and create a confidence link with your patient.
However, there are strict rules to follow to the letter when publishing information and services in this sector.
We prepared this article for your better understanding of what medical marketing is. Therefore, get to know the directives of Brazilian Code of Medical Ethics on the subject, and the Resolution CFM No. 1974/11, which regulates the activity. Also, read about what is allowed or not for promoting your work.
Moreover, if you are interested in getting to know more about this tool, see this special issue from the company Resultados Digitais.
Medical market, in its turn, is personalized for the communication needs within the healthcare sector, involving doctors, offices, clinics and other professionals and institutions of the area. For example, your target audience are patients instead of clients, as in traditional marketing.
Another premise is that advertising must obey exclusive ethical principles of educational guidance.
How to start working with medical marketing? First, it is fundamental to know the regulations of Brazilian Code of Medical Ethics and the Resolution CFM No. 1974/11, established by the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) and the Committee for Disclosure of Medical Information (Codame).
Code of Medical Ethics
The Code of Medical Ethics determines some of the restrictions on the advertisement of medical information by professionals. The main ones follow below:
Take part in the promotion of medical information, in any means of mass communication, without the exclusive character of social elucidation and education;
Publish information on medical matters in a sensationalist, promotional way or with untrue content.
Publish, outside the scientific community, any treatment or discovery whose value is still not expressly and scientifically recognized by a competent body;
Announce scientific titles you cannot prove and specialty or field of action for which you are not eligible and registered with the Regional Council of Medicine;
Take part in ads of commercial companies of any nature, making use of your profession;
Keep from including, in professional ads of any kind, your name, registration number with the Regional Council of Medicine, with the Federation State where it is registered, as well as the Specialist Qualification Registration (RQE), whenever announcing your specialty.
Warning: the ads of healthcare facilities must contain their technical director’s name, as well as registration number with the Regional Council of Medicine.
Resolution CFM No. 1974/2011
Resolution CFM No. 1.974/2011 aims to regulate all announcements and promotional pieces with information referring to doctors and clinics in any means of communication.
Therefore, it imposes some mandatory rules for advertisements in the healthcare area.
Understand the main mandatory requirements, what is and what is not allowed in medical marketing, according to that resolution:
What is mandatory
Mandatory information in medical ads:
a) Name of professional;
b) Specialty and/or area of practice, when registered with the Regional Council of Medicine;
c) Registration number with the Regional Council of Medicine;
d) Specialist Qualification Number (RQE), in case you are a specialist.
On the other hand, ads of clinics, hospitals, health houses, healthcare providers and other health institutions, must contain the name of the medical technical director and his corresponding registration with the Regional Council, in whose jurisdiction the health establishment is located.
What is not allowed
Promote a device claiming it to be of exclusive use;
Take part in advertisements of commercial companies or their products, as well as of medical trade union entities or associations;
Allow your name to be included in misleading advertisement;
Allow your name to circulate in subjects without scientific rigor in any media;
Advertise any method or technique not recognized by the Federal Council of Medicine as valid for medical practice;
Expose a patient as a way to promote technique, method or treatment result, even with his/her consent;
Advertise the use of exclusive treatment techniques;
Assure, promote or insinuate food treatment results. As, for example, using sensationalist statements as “the best”, “the only one” or “guaranteed result”;
Social media posting of selfie, images and/or audios featuring sensationalism, self-promotion or unfair competition;
Publication of “before and after” images of procedures;
Promote address and telephone number of office, clinic or service;
Exaggerated advertising pieces, even of established procedures, that avoid technical concepts and prioritize personal performance where you work or have personal interest;
Publicly convey information that causes concern to society, even if scientifically proven;
Publish, outside the scientific community, any treatment or discovery whose value is still not expressly and scientifically recognized by a competent body;
Assure, promise or insinuate good treatment results without scientific proof;
Consult, diagnose or prescribe by any means of mass communication or remotely;
Present, in an abusive, misleading or frightening way, visual representations of changes in the human body caused by diseases or injuries;
Publish prices for procedures, accepted payment/installment modalities or possible discounts as a way to make a difference in service quality.
What is allowed
Promote courses and updates related to your specialty or practice area, properly registered with the Regional Council of Medicine;
Provide information, give interviews and publish strictly educational articles.
Conclusion
Codame (Brazilian Portuguese for Committee for Disclosure of Medical Information) Manual, attached to the resolution, contains all the specific rules for disclosure in graphic materials, radios, television, internet and interviews to the media.
Consult the Committee in any of the Regional Councils of Medicine whenever there are doubts, in order to adequate the advertisement to legal an ethical regulations.
Would you like to know more about medical administration? Follow Phelcom blog.
Before Covid-19, telemedicine in Brazil was still considerably limited. For instance, the regulation law dates from 2002 and only allows three modalities: issue of remote reports, teleducation and teleassistance.
However, the activity has earned space during the present pandemic and, at present, can be used in any healthcare activity. Even in a more and more technological and connected world – including the healthcare area – many professionals face difficulties migrating to online services.
Because of that, we selected eight tools to help transition to a more digital medical office. Check them out!
1. Teleconsultation
As the very definition mentions, teleconsultation is the remote healthcare assistance through online tools, as, for example, videoconference.
Law no. 13.989, from April 15, 2028 defines it as “the exercise of medicine mediated by technologies to the ends of assistance, research, prevention of diseases and injuries, as well as promotion of healthcare”.
Faster service, reduction of operational costs, centralized information in cloud reports and assurance of data security and secrecy are among its main advantages.
2. Telediagnostic
Basically, telediagnostic is the evaluation and issuance of reports from exams via online platforms. Images may be sent directly from the equipment used for the exam or digitalized and made available in the tool, in high resolution, always with support from a healthcare professional.
After that, a specialist accesses patient information, issues a diagnostic and sends it to the requesting doctor. This way, all data remains stored in cloud and safely available on the website and/or application.
Telediagnostic optimizes report issuance, since specialists may access them more easily. It also assures effective analyses and data security.
3. Cloud storage
Cloud storage enables online access whenever and wherever necessary. Moreover, it is safer compared to softwares installed in a single computer.
Nowadays, there are diverse solutions for medical offices. Available services range from a simple email and consultation schedules to access and security for exams and the complete patient history.
Data security, integrated information from both the patient and administration, fast access, agile processes, increased clinic profitability, better storage capacity and remote support are among their main benefits.
That requires a series of information to assure patient data security. Among them, electronic signature and data associated with the doctor’s signature.
An electronic signature demands the doctor to have a digital certificate issued by the Brazilian Public Key Infrastructure (PKI Brazil, type A3, card or token).
In order to assist issuing these documents, the Electronic Prescription project enables safe digital document processing through issuance with digital certificate and prescription validation.
5. Electronic record
Presently, the electronic record is certainly most common in a medical office, and it is one of the main management tools. Technology gathers information from patients and eases follow-up by various specialists and healthcare professionals.
For example, it is possible to consult the whole history of a patient, such as consultations, exams, medicines prescribed and treatments made. All this provides agile service, more precise diagnostic and quick beginning of treatments.
6. Scheduling of online appointments
Undoubtedly, your clinic may lose patients due to often busy phone lines or delay in answering the phone. For that reason, options for scheduling online consultation ease the routines of both clinic users and employees, since there is an increase in productivity and organization.
Moreover, appointments can be confirmed just before the date, via SMS or email, for example. It also solves one of the most common problems faced by doctors: a patient who misses the appointment.
7. Telemedicine systems for medical offices
telemedicine systems are essential tools that offer, at once, teleconsultation, telediagnostic, electronic record, cloud storage and assurance of both patient and office data security, among other benefits.
They consist in one of the medical technologies that most enhances productivity. On the other hand, they relieve the work of professionals acting in various duties and in office, in addition to studying.
8. Portable devices for monitoring
Presently, it is possible to monitor a patient’s health through portable devices – also known as wearables.
Those tools register and store patient health data in real time. After that, the doctor accesses and generates a complete report with blood pressure, calorie control, heart rate, inter alia. All this with real and more accurate information.
They allow the professional to remotely follow the patient’s evolution. Undeniably, those are great instruments to monitor people who suffer from diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disorders, etc.
Conclusion
It is undoubtedly indispensable for the medical office to become digital, mainly in the late scenario of a pandemic. Moreover, creation and use of telemedicine tools have been progressively increasing all around the world.
In Brazil, doctors, clinics, hospitals and healthcare institutions use such technologies in a slightly increasing pace. Nevertheless, due to the recommended social isolation and release of more activities by the government, many professionals and healthcare institutions have recurred to telemedicine in order to keep a safe service available to patients.
Know more about telemedicine and how to employ it in you medical office. Follow Phelcom blog.
English
Português
