How to Be Efficient When You Are a Solo Physician: Work With What You Have

What if you are the whole team? You are the physician, front desk, medical assistant, phone operator, and sometimes, the biller. You finish seeing your last patient, but your work day is far from over. The phone is ringing. Results need to be reviewed. Charts need to be completed. Administrative tasks are waiting. If you cannot afford to hire yet, does that mean you have to work late every night? No. You can still create efficiency with the resources you have.

Do not assume hiring is automatically the answer. It can be tempting to think that you just need another person. Hiring someone simply because you feel overwhelmed does not necessarily solve the problem. Before hiring, do the math. What will this person cost? What tasks will they take off your plate? Will those tasks allow you to see more patients, improve collections, retain patients, or free you to perform higher-value work? Will the hire directly or indirectly generate enough revenue to justify the expense? Sometimes the answer is yes, and hiring may be an excellent investment. Until the numbers support it, work with what you have. 

Stop trying to do everything at once. When you are a solo physician, there will always be competing demands. You may feel like you need to answer the phone while reviewing a lab and finishing a chart. Remember that you can only do one thing at a time. Constant switching creates inefficiency, mental fatigue, and unfinished work. Instead of responding to every demand the moment it appears, create a structure for when different types of work will happen. 

Schedule your administrative work - not just your patients. Your schedule should not only contain patient appointments. Build intentional blocks for phone calls, reviewing test results, returning patient calls, prescription or refill requests, chart completion, and billing or administrative tasks. Consider a voicemail system so every incoming call does not require an immediate interruption. Let patients know when calls will be returned when appropriate. The goal is not to ignore work; it is to control when you do it.

Batch similar tasks. Batching reduces the cognitive cost of constantly switching between roles. Instead of reviewing one result, answering a phone call, returning to the results, and then starting another administrative task, review several results together. Return multiple calls during a designated block. Complete charts in focused blocks. Handle administrative tasks together. One type of work at a time allows your brain to stay in the same mode longer.

Use the same strategy when you are short-staffed. Maybe you normally have staff but someone is out sick, on vacation, or you are temporarily understaffed. The answer does have to be “I’ll just work late”. Temporarily redesign your workflow. Identify what absolutely requires you, what can wait, and what can be batched. Optimize the resources available to you rather than trying to replicate your usual workflow with fewer people.

Get creative with the resources you already have. Efficiency is not always about adding resources. Sometimes it is about using existing resources differently. Look at your workflow and ask:

What am I doing that could happen at another time?

What interruptions could be prevented?

What can be batched?

What truly requires immediate attention?

What could be automated? 

What could be delegated when resources become available?

What am I doing simply because I have always done it this way?

Efficiency is about more than speed. Being efficient does not mean rushing through patients. It means creating a workflow that allows you to do the work that matters without constantly fighting interruptions. You may not be able to hire someone today, but you can begin building systems today that make your practice more efficient. Small improvements compound. Eventually, when you are ready to hire, you will be in a better position to know exactly what you need that person to do. 

If you are a physician who finishes seeing patients but still has hours of work left, you may not need to simply “work harder”. You may need to look differently at how your time, attention and workflow are being used. If you want personalized support, our 1:1 Physician Coaching Program can help you identify what is keeping you at work late and create a sustainable way to leave on time. 

You do not have to wait for a bigger team to become more efficient. Start by making the most of the team you have - even if that team is just you. Identify the specific bottlenecks in your workflow and create a system that works for your practice.