Proactivity can help practices meet peak demands
(HealthDay)—Actions can be taken to meet peak demand in practices, according to an article published Nov. 10 in Medical Economics.
Noting that peak seasons where demand can be greater than capacity are costly for practices, the article discusses ways to manage scheduling and meet these higher demands.
According to the article, demand can be predicted by examining historical scheduling patterns. By analyzing how demand was met in the past, trends can be further explored. Examples of ways to meet demand include scheduling blackout days for paid time off; managing the transition to electronic health records (e.g., not every physician transitions to the electronic health record at the same time and lightening the load during transition); and by offering services to preempt peak demand, such as Monday morning and Friday afternoon walk-in clinics and flu-shot clinics, scheduled on the day of the week that is historically the slowest.
"Taking action is critical to improving service, and increasing efficiency and productivity," according to the article.
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