02 July 2010

How an Independent Contractor or Virtual Assistant Can Help a Doctor

Imagine you’re an enthusiastic fresh graduate Doctor of Medicine who plans to go into private practice, unaffiliated with any of those established hospitals in your area. Chances are, you would be at a loss regarding how to set up you practice in a quick and efficient manner, such that you do not lose any opportunities to treat patients and at the same time make money. This moment may be the perfect one to hire an independent contractor or virtual assistant to do the minor, but very important, tasks that need to be taken care of.

The independent contractor/virtual assistant’s task includes setting up clinic systems in the established manner of your medical practice, though small, becomes paperless and chartless. This has become a trend in the years, as it avoids the unnecessary hassle of browsing through tall stacks of patient records whenever someone comes for another check up, for instance. When it comes to advertising, like when you are planning a rather big event to publicize your clinic, your assistants come in very handy, since they spare you the time needed in making it known to the people about your open practice. Even those patient-related forms, referral letters, business cards and clinic newsletters can be left to your independent contractor or virtual assistant, because they provide publishing services as well.

Once you are already up and running with your clinic, independent contractors or virtual assistants can still be of service to you, since they can devise working manuals for your human resource needs. For your new members of your staff, an independent contractor or virtual assistant can also develop a plan for proper verbal and communication skills, so that they can communicate with your patients in an appropriate manner, especially when it comes to scheduling appointments with you, or settling of payment. An independent contractor or virtual assistant can also be very valuable in both written and audio medical transcription, as well as in patient management programs, such as giving reminders to patients when they are scheduled for a consultation. A nursing virtual assistant can be available to your patients by phone when the office is closed and handle many minor medical calls and also follw your procedure in case of an emergency. 

What’s more, they can also assist you with your personal tasks, like arranging your entire vacation or dinner for your family and purchasing sports or concert tickets.

There can still be a long list, but the bottom line is, independent contractors and virtual assistants are great when you want to further automate some tasks so that you have more time for everything else in your busy practice, because as a doctor, you have one of the most important jobs in the world – treating patients.