Tips for Running Your Medical Practice during the Coronavirus Crisis

“At one large practice in Bergen County, New Jersey, the waiting room is empty — but its patients are still receiving care. As of mid-March, the practice is still operating, thanks to the group’s willingness to adapt its work flow, sometimes radically, to mitigate the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, patients now call the receptionist from their vehicles when they arrive, and wait there until receiving a call back telling them the clinician is ready. The practice has also started using telemedicine for the first time, to the extent it can be adopted in a hurry, and some clinicians are working from home on tasks such as medication refills.

Still, the rapidly increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in the United States raises the possibility that some physician offices will decide or be forced to close temporarily, as occurred in London last month.

Many practices across the country are having to adjust the way they operate, amid daily changes in the pandemic. What should you do to adapt to this new way of operating your practice?

1. Create a Task Force to Manage Change

The readiness of medical practices to address the myriad challenges posed by this crisis has so far been a mixed bag, said Owen Dahl, MBA, a Texas-based medical practice management consultant. “Leadership is going to have to assess what’s happening in the community, what’s happening with staff members who may or may not have the disease and may or may not have to self-quarantine,” Dahl said.

The physicians, the administrator, CEO, or managing partner should be involved in decision making as the global crisis unfolds, added Laurie Morgan, MBA, a California-based practice management consultant. And depending on the size of the practice, it may be useful to delegate specific components of this work to various department managers or other individuals in the group…”

Read the full Medscape article here.

View all Articles by: Melissa Clark, CCS-P