How to Optimize Short Patient Appointment Times Without Sacrificing Care

An earlier version of this article appeared on this website in April, 2024

If you’ve ever looked at your schedule and wondered how you’re going to fit high-quality patient care into 15-minute slots, you’re not alone.

Across every specialty, limited visit times are one of the top drivers of physician stress, frustrated patients, and after-hours charting. Short visit times increase the likelihood of medical errors and inappropriate treatment, drive up inbox volume and unnecessary follow-ups, and contribute to physician burnout.

While you may not have control over your clinic template, there are ways to make your day run more smoothly, without compromising care.

This guide walks you through through practical, real-world strategies that will help you to streamline visits, reduce your cognitive load, improve patient flow, and decrease your after-hours charting time. Although they are not a substitute for sorely needed systemic change, these small improvements will increase patient satisfaction and help you end the day with more bandwidth.

Pre-visit Information Collection

Empower your medical assistant to gather the essentials

• Have the MA record symptoms, including duration and severity, before you enter the room. This prepares you and reinforces the MA’s value as part of the care team.

Ask patients for their top three concerns.

• When patients list their priorities up front, you can structure the visit more effectively and reduce unexpected “one more thing” moments.

Scan these notes before entering.

• A quick review before opening the door helps you walk in with a plan and guide the conversation with intention and presence.

Standardization and Checklists:

Use quick-reference checklists for common diagnoses.

• These promote consistency, streamline documentation, and support pre-authorization when needed.

• When you take the time to make a checklist, you’ll be more likely to include all the pertinent information, which limits follow up phone calls and clarification.

Provide standardized protocols for procedures and testing.

• Clear, repeatable instructions reduce variation, support your staff, and keep visits moving smoothly.

• Standardized orders also mean less likelihood that you’ll be asked for additional information by the testing center or referral later.

Efficient Communication Techniques

Teach-Back Method

• Ask patients to explain the diagnosis or treatment plan to you in their own words. This quick check ensures they truly understand what to do next.

• While it may take an extra minute or two during the visit, Teach-Back often saves time later by reducing confusion, unnecessary portal messages, and preventable follow-up visits. It also improves adherence and patient confidence.

Closed-Loop Communication

• Closed-loop communication is used with staff, not patients. When an order or instruction is given, the receiver repeats it back (“You want a CBC and TSH today?”), and the sender confirms to close the loop.

• This simple habit prevents errors, reduces rework, and supports efficient teamwork, especially in busy clinical settings where interruptions are common.

Leverage Technology and Tools

Use EMR templates, macros, and AI tools

• Well-built templates reduce cognitive load, speed documentation, and increase consistency.

• Consider AI tools if available, but keep in mind their pitfalls. These include the potential for introducing error, adding extraneous information, and the fact that they are not written in your own words, which means that future chart review may be more cumbersome.

Provide high quality patient education resources

• Directing patients to trusted and vetted handouts or videos cuts down on repeated explanations and post-visit questions.

Delegate What You Can

Routine tasks can often be handed off to your team.

• Refills, standard lab orders, and routine follow-ups can frequently be managed by MAs or nurses using established protocol

Assign follow-up tracking to staff.

• When necessary, checking whether a patient completed labs, started a new medication, or scheduled a procedure or referral can be delegated rather than handled in your inbox.

Smarter Scheduling Strategies

Build brief buffer times when possible.

• Short breaks every couple of hours help you recover from delays, take a bio break, and recalibrate.

Cluster similar appointments.

• When feasible, grouping related visit types reduces mental switching and improves your overall efficiency.

Structure the Visit Intentionally

Sit down and face the patient.

• It immediately builds trust and helps patients feel heard — even in short appointments.

Open with: “What brings you here today?”

• This keeps the visit aligned with your patient’s priorities and reduces unnecessary back-and-forth chitchat that can derail the appointment.

The Bottom Line

By optimizing your clinic flow, you’ll improve:

• Patient care

• Patient understanding and adherence

• Staff morale and engagement

• Your ability to stay on schedule

• Your end-of-day workload and energy

Over time, these small steps can reduce your stress, improve the quality of care, and help you finish the day with a greater sense of accomplishment and control.

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If you’ve enjoyed this article and would like to stay in the loop for more insights on creating a sustainable, fulfilling, and happy life as a physician, sign up for my newsletter or reach out on my website. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’d like to schedule a complimentary introductory meeting with me, click the link below.

Five Simple Ways Busy Physicians Can Save Time

An earlier version of this article appeared on this site in October 2022.

Time is a precious commodity, and just like gold, there’s only so much of it to go around. Your patients, your administrators, your family, your community—everyone wants some of it. With only 24 hours in a day, it may seem that there simply isn’t time to give everyone what they need, let alone take care of your own needs.

In many cases, that’s true. The reality is that, especially if you work in primary care, you might actually need 27 full working hours each day to get everything done that’s expected of you. And that’s before factoring in the time to take care of yourself, your personal relationships, and those who depend on you.

Why Time Feels So Scarce

Ironically, despite your many years of school, training, and continuing education, you were probably never taught time management. It was simply expected that you’d figure it out along the way. Yet the ever-increasing demands on physicians have created an unsustainable pace and record levels of burnout.

While the demands may be unrealistic, there are practical ways to regain some control that don’t require you to cut corners or compromise your standards.

There is no way to magically manifest more time. Although multitasking used to be encouraged, it’s now clear that you can truly only do one thing well at a time. In fact, an Australian study of Emergency Department physicians found a nearly two-fold risk of errors with multi-tasking. So what is the answer?

A Practical Path Forward

I’m a Physician Coach with additional certification in Time Management Coaching. After years as a cardiologist and now as a coach, I’ve seen firsthand how transformative effective time management can be. When physicians learn to manage their time with greater clarity and intention, they gain more control over both their professional and personal lives. The result is enhanced well-being, a renewed sense of purpose, and the space to pursue what truly matters, including your passions, priorities, and most meaningful goals.

Don’t let the idea of change hold you back. Time management doesn’t have to be complicated or convoluted. Small, deliberate steps can lead to lasting improvement.

In this article, I’ll tell you about five simple ways to reclaim wasted time. These are battle-tested methods that I refined during my years in cardiology and continue to use successfully with my physician clients today.

⌛Organize your physical and virtual workspaces.

Make it easy to find all the tools you need to get your work done. Don’t forget to put them back in place at the end of the day so you’re not hunting for what you need the next morning. As simple as it sounds, an organized workspace helps to set the stage for a well-ordered day.

Keep your computer files tidy as well, and organize your “smart phrases” in your EHR. These simple steps can save crucial minutes and free up brain space. Over the course of a day, that can really add up. Take advantage of any available technical support to make things run more efficiently. Developing a system that makes sense to you means less friction at work and at home.

⌛Commit to only touching each piece of paper or email once

Set aside focused blocks of time to manage your inboxes, and when possible, complete each task before moving on to the next. Even 5–10 minutes of dedicated attention can make a meaningful difference. Delete or toss what’s unnecessary, and keep your inboxes organized. If you’re fortunate to have administrative help, put it to good use by delegating and automating whenever possible.

Beyond the EHR, emails can be overwhelming. Most physicians receive dozens, if not hundreds, of emails every day, along with stacks of paper. Much of it is irrelevant or distracting, but some items are time-sensitive and important. Create a system that helps you focus on the things that matter. Prioritize critical communications, and let less important ones flow into a secondary folder or be forwarded to someone who can handle them for you.

⌛Get your charting done before moving on to the next patient.

When you do your charts as you go, you’ll remember the details that you need to make the note accurate, and you’ll be less likely to forget to include things like orders, refills, and instructions. Patients will appreciate it, and you may have fewer requests for clarification after the appointment. I learned this early on, and it made all the difference.

Consider using AI to help with your notes if a good system is available for your EHR. A scribe (or virtual scribe) can also be a valuable asset. It can be a little tricky and time-consuming to get up to speed with your charting at first, especially if you’ve fallen behind, but I promise it will save you time and aggravation in the long run if you can manage to do it efficiently. The next tip will help with this.

⌛Automate and delegate your common phrases and tasks

Create smart phrases in your EMR for common diagnoses, patient instructions, and frequently asked questions. It saves time, improves your clarity, and ensures consistency. You can always add a sentence or two to personalize your notes. Whenever you can, delegate administrative tasks to your staff rather than handling them yourself. The next section offers practical tips to help make that process seamless.

⌛Streamline Team Communications

Clear, respectful communication with nurses, assistants, and other staff can dramatically cut down on back-and-forth clarifications and misunderstandings. Establish straightforward channels for information flow and take time to develop protocols for common situations that don’t require your direct involvement. This proactive approach strengthens teamwork, reduces errors, and helps ensure a smoother experience for your patients.

Small Changes, Big Impact

If you’re like most physicians, you’re probably pulled in several directions at once. There’s no question that healthcare systems must do more to reduce the load on physicians. The growing consensus is clear: the current demands are unsustainable. Realistically, larger changes take time, but you can make small shifts that create a bit more breathing room in your day right now. Even modest improvements in time management can lower your stress, enhance your focus, and give you back valuable hours in your day.

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If you’ve enjoyed this article and would like to stay in the loop for more insights on creating a sustainable, fulfilling, and happy life as a physician, sign up for my newsletter or reach out on my website. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’d like to schedule a complimentary introductory meeting with me, click the link below.

References

Hodkinson A, Zhou A, Johnson J et al. (2022) Associations of physician burnout with career engagement and quality of patient care: systematic review and meta-analysis BMJ

Porter, J., Boyd, C., Skandari, M.R. et al. (2022). Revisiting the Time Needed to Provide Adult Primary Care. J Gen Intern Med (2022)

Westbrook JI, Raban MZ, Walter SR, et al. (2018) Task errors by emergency physicians are associated with interruptions, multitasking, fatigue and working memory capacity: a prospective, direct observation study. BMJ Quality & Safety