Language
English
Publication Date
5-1-2023
Journal
Cureus
DOI
10.7759/cureus.39195
PMID
37378213
PMCID
PMC10292050
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
5-18-2023
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
A focus on improved efficiency can impact both patient care and physician well-being. Efficiency is one of the six domains of healthcare quality. It is also recognized as one of the three main pillars of professional fulfillment. Quality improvement measures in the area of efficiency are focused on reducing waste, specifically related to physicians' time, energy, and cognitive demands. Interventions and practices reported in the literature or communicated by dermatologists have documented efforts centered on patient care workflows, documentation, communication, and other areas. Team-based care models maximize the skill sets of other trained providers, while workflow changes encompassing process standardization, communication, and task automatization have improved patient safety and efficiency. Strategies to promote documentation efficiency have centered on eliminating extraneous documentation alongside the use of templates, text expander functionality, and dictation tools. The use of in-office or virtual scribes, when provided with adequate training and consistent feedback, has improved charting time, accuracy, and physician satisfaction. Although upfront investments in time and financial resources may be required, quality improvement in efficiency can benefit healthcare quality, patient safety, and physician satisfaction.
Keywords
quality of care, physician satisfaction, patient communication, documentation, efficiency
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Katta, Rajani; Strouphauer, Emily; Ibraheim, Marina K; et al., "Practice Efficiency in Dermatology: Enhancing Quality of Care and Physician Well-Being" (2023). Faculty and Staff Publications. 5492.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/5492