Monday, January 05, 2009

Solo Practice Amidst A Huge Team

Whether you are in solo or group practice, you work as part of a large team.  You rely on yourself and your employees to get stuff done, but you also rely on other people who you may never have met to act on your behalf and that of your patients'.  When I schedule a surgery in the OR, for example a penile implant, at least 7 people are involved in the process, not including the patient.  If anyone of them fails to do their little-but-critical part, the process comes to a halt, or worse.

It is a wonder that the system ever works at all.

Here are some things that we do so that we can trace the course of an order through the multiple levels that have become our health care system.
  • Save fax confirmations
  • E-prescribe
  • Take notes
  • Send letters by certified mail
  • Document, document, document
. . .and really we question everything and take it to the next level when something is not quite right. 

Modern medicine is a team endeavor whether you are solo or not.  Anything you can do to make it easier for someone else to do their job will ultimately make it easier for you and your patient.