I guess that like me a lot of your time is spent grinding through one (damn) thing after another. In the short days and long nights it can seem like more grind than ever.
So when plans struggled over for years suddenly work it’s a very special day. It feels like the sun coming out on the brilliant white of fresh snow.
Dr AV, a single hander GP in Scotland with 2,900 patients emails me: “Best Friday I have had in 2 years!?”
The reason? He’s in control, he’s reached 50% of demand online, the rest by phone, and he and the team are dealing with everything as it comes in. In the middle of December he writes “We have free slots – many in fact – on any given day !?”
Sorry I don’t even know how to write emojis but I think that means a cheesy grin.
Actually, he’s not the only one, Dr SA has done the same, and she has even more patients. I’m using initials because they don’t necessarily want you all to ring them up at once.
What was it that suddenly made the difference? Last week I promised to tell you if it continued. Well it’s so ridiculously simple that I’m almost embarrassed to say.
We’ve had this idea on one of our powerpoint slides for months, but never really pushed it because no one had tried it so we didn’t know it would work.
The receptionists guide the patient to the practice website and get them to try askmyGP. They are even more effective than the GP giving a telephone message. They love it – they feel empowered too, and when the requests come in they are better equipped to deal with them – many are answered by secure email.
The GPs love it because every single one is saving minutes, and when you’ve 3,000 patients to manage, and preparing for Christmas too, that counts for a lot.
One terribly important point I must make: there is no forcing patients online. You may hear of other case studies where the telephone option has effectiively been removed.. We refuse to condone such an approach – in fact, telephone service improves.
Look, the vast majority of things that we try, fail. You don’t hear about them, and we try a lot, and some of the failures are painfully costly. So when something works, we might as well ? about it.
Anyway, you can see what the receptionists and GPs are directing patients to do on Bramley Demo Surgery.
PS You might even say the struggle goes back to 1981 when the electronics lecturer is trying to explain to thicko engineering undergraduate why asynchronous communication is so much more efficient. He wins.
Sometimes the sun comes out
I guess that like me a lot of your time is spent grinding through one (damn) thing after another. In the short days and long nights it can seem like more grind than ever.
So when plans struggled over for years suddenly work it’s a very special day. It feels like the sun coming out on the brilliant white of fresh snow.
Dr AV, a single hander GP in Scotland with 2,900 patients emails me: “Best Friday I have had in 2 years!?”
The reason? He’s in control, he’s reached 50% of demand online, the rest by phone, and he and the team are dealing with everything as it comes in. In the middle of December he writes “We have free slots – many in fact – on any given day !?”
Sorry I don’t even know how to write emojis but I think that means a cheesy grin.
Actually, he’s not the only one, Dr SA has done the same, and she has even more patients. I’m using initials because they don’t necessarily want you all to ring them up at once.
What was it that suddenly made the difference? Last week I promised to tell you if it continued. Well it’s so ridiculously simple that I’m almost embarrassed to say.
We’ve had this idea on one of our powerpoint slides for months, but never really pushed it because no one had tried it so we didn’t know it would work.
The receptionists guide the patient to the practice website and get them to try askmyGP. They are even more effective than the GP giving a telephone message. They love it – they feel empowered too, and when the requests come in they are better equipped to deal with them – many are answered by secure email.
The GPs love it because every single one is saving minutes, and when you’ve 3,000 patients to manage, and preparing for Christmas too, that counts for a lot.
One terribly important point I must make: there is no forcing patients online. You may hear of other case studies where the telephone option has effectiively been removed.. We refuse to condone such an approach – in fact, telephone service improves.
Look, the vast majority of things that we try, fail. You don’t hear about them, and we try a lot, and some of the failures are painfully costly. So when something works, we might as well ? about it.
Anyway, you can see what the receptionists and GPs are directing patients to do on Bramley Demo Surgery.
Very best,
Harry Longman
askmyGP & GP Access Ltd
Comment on the blog
PS You might even say the struggle goes back to 1981 when the electronics lecturer is trying to explain to thicko engineering undergraduate why asynchronous communication is so much more efficient. He wins.
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