As a rule of thumb in 2022, if I spend one hour in direct patient care, I’m spending 30 minutes to one hour on non-clinical tasks. This can include charting and documentation, gathering and interpreting clinical information — either in preparation for or after a patient visit, to complete a referral, for example — and preventative care measures. This is by no means unique to my practice — respondents to the Canadian Medical Association’s latest National Physician Health Survey spent an average of 10 hours per week on administrative tasks. Canadians are living longer and many are living longer with multiple chronic medical conditions. The more complex a patient’s concerns are, the more time-intensive associated administrative tasks will be.
Let’s use the example of a patient with multiple chronic medical problems presenting for an office visit. If they haven’t been in for a while, they might have three or four issues to discuss. One might require a specialist’s opinion, another may require blood work and one more could involve changes to their medication. Even if I’m being highly optimistic and the visit takes 20 minutes, the work involved afterwards may include charting, creating and sending a referral supported by the appropriate investigations and setting alerts within my electronic medical record (EMR), among other time-intensive tasks.
As the Canadian national soccer teams head to their respective FIFA World Cups, Derek Van Diest is on the scene to cover all the action. Expect expert insights and analysis in your inbox daily throughout the tournaments, and weekly on Thursdays for the rest of the season.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Corner Kicks with Derek Van Diest will soon be in your inbox.
Even something as seemingly simple as creating a prescription involves complexities that ensure patients receive their medication in a safe and timely manner. With health-care systems nationwide struggling with physician shortages, it’s increasingly important to prioritize implementing digital health tools that streamline cumbersome processes and allow health-care providers to focus more of their time on direct patient care. Tools like PrescribeIT, a national e-prescribing service, can help streamline the prescription process by connecting prescribers to community-based retail pharmacies, enabling the digital transmission of prescriptions.
Any time an element of a patient’s care is transferred to another member of their care team, be it a pharmacist or a specialist referral, maintaining effective communication within the patient’s circle of care is essential, and this takes much more time than most Canadians might realize. As the prescriber, I’ll go through a number of cognitive checkpoints to ensure that the prescription is created safely, in the context of a patient’s other medications, allergies, medical conditions, and more. Likewise, the pharmacist will undergo their own reviews and safety checks to ensure they are dispensing the medication safely. When we consider that 55% of adults aged 18 to 79 use at least one prescription medication each month (according to Statistics Canada), we begin to understand how quickly this time can add up. Tools like e-prescribing enable pharmacies to receive prescriptions directly into their pharmacy management system.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
It is reassuring to know that, while I personally follow a careful process when creating a prescription, checks and balances also exist within the system to ensure the safety of the patient. In the dispensing process, questions and concerns from the patient’s pharmacy team can often arise when new medications are prescribed, particularly in the case of patients with more complex conditions. Traditionally, health care has relied heavily on fax, with some phone calls mixed in — and in many cases it still does. Having tools in place that prioritize communication between health-care providers, such as PrescribeIT’s integrated clinical communications tool, enables the prescriber and pharmacy to communicate directly, quickly address clarifications and align on next steps.
As we look to address challenges in health-care delivery, implementing tools that streamline daily processes and best practices are fundamental steps we can take right now. E-Prescribing is a tool that is increasingly available and there’s no reason for it not to become a future best practice for medication management, so that health-care providers have more bandwidth for what matters most: patient care.
Dr. Rashaad Bhyat is a clinician leader at Canada Health Infoway and a family physician with a passion for digital health and practices in an EMR-enabled clinic in the Greater Toronto Area.
