I Visited a Doctor With 3 Clinics Who Still Uses Paper Records. Here’s What I Found Out.

I make it a point to try and visit as many doctors as I can that request for a demo.

Why?

This helps me understand the needs of the doctors better, so we can continue to improve the SeriousMD system.

Like I said before, SeriousMD is not perfect. No software is.

It needs to be continually developed. Much like any product, much like your career as a doctor, much like how your patients treat their health.

Learn, develop, get better.

So, I recently visited a doctor. The doctor has a clinic in Bulacan, another in Quezon City and another in Pasig. From what I observed, there were around 15-20 patients per location.

Here’s the thing.

From somebody that’s from the outside looking in, there’s a lot of room for improvement.

There’s a saying that you can’t see the forest for the trees. I’m not the one in the trenches working and worrying about patients. That’s why I can see these things.

I’m not just saying it because I’m trying to sell the idea of using SeriousMD, well, I kinda am but hear me out first. 😂

I truly believe that there’s always a better way of doing something that has been known as common practice.

This is especially true for something that has been done for the past century. Something that has been taught to you in school or even by your consultant.

There’s a process passed down from one generation of doctors to the next. It’s proven and tested. The problem is, it hasn’t improved over the years.

It CAN be optimized.

A majority of doctors I personally visit for demos have multiple clinics, practice locations and separate patient files/records stored in each location.

Sure, they “just” need to give their secretary a call, or get somebody to fax the records to them but in this day and age, I think that’s a little unnecessary. Things can be done faster, quicker and more accurately.

Or, in the words of Daft Punk:

 

Here’s an example that I’ve heard straight from another doctor.

Having multiple clinics, you sometimes have different patient encounter records for 1 single patient in both clinics.

Human error is higher and you’d need to rely a lot on somebody else to consolidate that. What if he/she is absent on that day you need it? You might not even know there’s a separate record in the other clinic.

You might end up forcing the patient to go to a specific clinic when both locations are preferable to him depending on the day of the week. Though it’s the patient’s responsibility, he might be more prone to skipping appointments or even not showing up at all.

Here’s another example from another doctor.

A patient is sick. You don’t have access to the records immediately. You check him out, you admit them ASAP.

The patient lies and doesn’t tell you about their previous diagnosis with another doctor or the previous visit in the hospital.

Long story short, next day, patient is dead. It’s definitely the patient’s fault but it could have been prevented with better access to records.

At the end of the day, there are gaps in between the process and that adds up to a big waste of time. Things can be done faster with the right frame of mind and with the right help.

That’s why I believe that you need an electronic medical records system like SeriousMD. The SeriousMD community, which are made up of other doctors like yourself, together with our team, are your support groups to help you to get started.

SeriousMD was created to save lives.

We developed SeriousMD initially because we encountered a personal matter that dealt with the loss of time due to multiple consultations, hauling a boatload of lab results and explaining the same story over and over to multiple specialists. A team of consultants were assembled in the end, but too much time already passed, which ended up with a loss of life.

That’s why I believe having a system that works for both patients and doctors is a must.

You know the doctor I visited who had 3 clinics? His files were already up to the ceiling.

He was reluctant to make a change. He’s been doing that process for the past 17 years.

BUT he decided that he wanted to do it and he jumped all-in. 

That’s all he needed.

Today, with the help of his clinic management system, he finishes clinic on schedule and gets home for dinner with the family in time. He also has the peace of mind to finally pick up golfing again.

Want another example? I visited a doctora (let’s call her Doc Tin 😂) and she told me that she can easily see 30 patients (from a regular of 15) now and still finish in time.

Efficient. Effective. Visible ROI. Priceless Extra Time.

How about you? Are you ready to make that jump?