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The MOA's in our office each have their own doctor they work for, however, we work together as a team and help each other out to make sure that the patients get the best care and the doctors have everything they need.

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The MOA's in our office each have their own doctor they work for, however, we work together as a team and help each other out to make sure that the patients get the best care and the doctors have everything they need.

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Cndace Ritchie

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The clinic I work at currently does not have online booking but there has been a lot of interest from our patients. I know this would free up a lot of time for our MOA's and make it very easy for patients to scheudle with their doctor, but I also feel this would disconnect us from our patients. I also hear patients asking to be notified of appointments by text or email it seems like our world is becoming less and less personal.  :(.
Thats our job to interact /care for patients.

-Shannon McGuire

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I work with Anna and wanted to continue with her great description of what we have recently implemented at our clinic. I feel that with all the MOAs learning every aspect of how the clinic runs, it created a very collaborative atmosphere. The doctors are also extremely involved as well so that they truly understand what is needed when we try to explain a situation that arises. It's easy to hand off tasks and know what is happening with patients because we have all collaborated on providing as much information regarding a patients medical history and expected outcomes. I've read some great ideas on here from the other clinics, like online booking for patients, the patient advisory panel (that's really cool), the patient visit card (which we heard about from Dr Evans before). Looking forward to presented these ideas in the future. Thank you.

Deanna Goodman

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The clinic I work at just implemented an online booking system. Once patients become more familiar with the system, they will be able to book their own appointments and learn their doctor's schedule. This will decrease the amount of phone calls the MOA's will have to take so that our time can be focused on other aspects of the clinic that otherwise may be overlooked. This system also provides our patients with reminders via text, email or phone call (based on their preferences) which will in turn decreased missed appointments. The use of technology increases the efficacy of our clinic, and is something I hope we will continue with in the future.

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The clinic I work at just implemented an online booking system. Once patients become more familiar with the system, they will be able to book their own appointments and learn their doctor's schedule. This will decrease the amount of phone calls the MOA's will have to take so that our time can be focused on other aspects of the clinic that otherwise may be overlooked. This system also provides our patients with reminders via text, email or phone call (based on their preferences) which will in turn decreased missed appointments. The use of technology increases the efficacy of our clinic, and is something I hope we will continue with in the future.

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-Hollie Connell

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One thing I love about being an MOA is the relationship I develop with the patients. I am a very social person, so I enjoy chatting with the patients and seeing how they are doing. This is why I think it is important to stick to the same doctor, as the relationship with the patient is more personal and they feel very cared for.

-Karley-

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I'm going to be honest here that I'm not entirely sure how a best practice emerges anymore. Since our office moved, switched from Osler to Wolf and went EMR all at the same time I've felt a huge disconnect from the patients. In the "old days" part of my daily routine was to go through all the results, consults, etc that came into the office via fax or printed from Excelleris and figure out if it was a family patient with a chart or walk-in with an e-sheet. I used to know which patients were in hospital or who'd finally gotten into the specialist they'd been waiting for a year to see. Since almost everything now comes in electronically and goes straight into doctor's inboxes I don't know who's gotten a terrible diagnosis or broken a hip. I've been with the same practice for almost fifteen years and I see hurt in patients eyes when they say "Well, you know what's going on," and I have to admit that I don't.
In an evolving world where patients can look up their own results or research specialists and chose who they'd like to be referred to despite what their physician recommends I'm finding it harder and harder to be part of the patient's cycle of life. Anyone else feel this way?
Freya Rose

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The MOA's at our office work extremely well in a team based setting. We all share the basic MOA duties and are constantly helping each other out when the day gets overwhelming.

Our clinic is also implementing glass at our front reception area as well as a door to and from the patient waiting room to the back area with our examining rooms in hopes for continued patient/ MOA privacy & confidentiality as well as clinic privacy and security.

-Chanelle Guenette

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We have been using EMR since 2013. Our office in the past 6 months has been doing a thorough clean up of paper charts. All current existing patient's paper charts are being uploaded into their EMR chart. We have uploaded active patients, transferred patients, and deceased patients. Once the paper charts are uploaded, we then have to categorize the charts in the system to active, transferred, and deceased to help keep us organized with our current patients in the office. Having the paper charts in the EMR saves our Doctor's from having to keep coming out of the room during the patient's appointment time and having to look something up in their paper chart. Once we are done with this big task of uploading the paper charts it will make it more organized and efficient to have it all in one place-in the EMR chart.
Nancy Houston

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In our clinic, we recently changed how the MOA's work. All MOAs have designated rotating job description. There are 4 MOAs in our clinic; two at the front and two at the back office. The MOAs at the front are called MOA South and North who assist the Physician and focus on the patient care before and after the visit, such as booking a follow-up. While the other two MOAs at the back, are in charge of all the referral faxing, autoclaving, billing and answering the phone for booking and questions from the patient.
These MOA positions rotate every two weeks.  This system assures that if in case one MOA did not show up to work due to illness or personal issue,  we don't have to panic because everyone can do all the tasks in the clinic. No one knows more than the other. The system creates assurance that we have each other 's back and this makes sure that our office will run smoothly. Besides, the doctors and the patients will know that there will always be efficient health care service even during the days where it is short staffed.
Anna Balanza

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We have a great team of MOA's and doctors at our clinic and we all have our strengths and weakness's, andwe balance each other out well. When we have difficult patients or questions being posed to us we can talk it out and find a solution before the doctor needs to be involved. As an MOA I have gained the trust of many patients and have been able to take a lot of pressure off the doctors.
We also get a lot of phone calls regarding lab results and my health portal with many patients confirming results with Dr. Google. Our MOA team has been awesome at diverting a lot of unnecessary appointments and calls regarding lab results and Dr. Google diagnosis.

Lynnea

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At our clinic we have a patient advisory panel that consists of two patients from each doctors practice.  They meet with one of our doctors occasionally to give feedback and concerns from the patient point of view.  It's always good to get the opinion from someone on the outside looking in.

Also each doctor in our office has their own MOA working for them.  We feel that it creates better continuity of care and we get to know our patients alot better which makes it more comfortable and enjoyable experience for them.  And it makes it easier for us as MOA's because we only have to worry about remembering how one doctor works rather than 7.

Amanda Haverstock

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Primary Care Network - Online lab results

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Primary Care Network - Online lab results

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At the clinic I work at we have patients constantly asking if they can access their lab results online. They can through My Health portal that is set up through the labs. They go into the lab and register online to get the lab results, Imaging tests and other results. This is a very handy tool for the patient to have, although it can be very dangerous as well. Patients tend to google their symptoms "Dr. Google" and call the office in a tizzy. If a lab results is elevated i've had patients call and demand to get in that day. It is a very good resource for patients who understand that not every lab result that is elevated means that you need Urgent care.

- Jennifer Hawkins

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I can speak on behalf of all the MOA's at my office that we have a really great team. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and I think we balance each other in a really great way. I think this is important because we can all come together and problem solve almost anything before having to involve the doctors. We all agree making the doctors life easier is key in being an MOA, but that also goes for the patients as well. When the patients see how well you work with your team members they are more likely to feel more comfortable being at the office.

Mikyla Gruza

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About 9 months ago, our clinic (Family Practice) implemented a 'patient visit card' for each patient to fill out once they arrived at the clinic for there appointment, and before going into the exam room. The visit card questions are, what is the main reason for your visit today,  do you need any prescription refills and if so which medications do you need,  and do you have any additional issues that you wish to address. These visit cards are beneficial in a few ways. It ensures the patient remembers all what they came in for. Reminds them if they need any prescription refills, to avoid  a return visit or phone call/fax refill. It also prioritizes what needs to be addressed. If a patient has multiple complaints, the doctor can prioritize what needs to be addressed at that particular visit, and what complaints they will have the patient return for if time runs out. Lastly it helps the MOA to prepare anything that needs to be done ahead of time when putting the patient into the exam room. It has been a well received practice in our clinic and helps in a big way!

Candice McMillan

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Where I currently work, we are in the middle of "cleaning up" our panel. Meaning , inactivating inactive patients to make room for new patients and keep the EMR neat and tidy. For me, this meant a ton of phone calls ...about 800 give or take to find out if the patients had moved, passed away or found another doctor. If they fell into any of those categories, they were inactivated.
We are also working on creating a streamlined way of using the EMR .  I believe this helps us as a team as there will be less confusion if one MOA needs to cover for another.

-Sarah Miller

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There are a few things that Ruthann has asked that you start thinking about prior to her visit.:
Emerging Best Practices

Panel Management; Patient Medical Home; Primary Care Networks; Clinic Privacy and Security; Patient Engagement/Feedback; Virtual Care

What have you heard, seen or already been involved with?

Things to consider :

o   What interests you?

o   What might your clinic have already identified or been involved with?

o   Consider what this may mean for you?

o   How could you be involved and support the GP, your clinic and team?