Inbasket management Efficiently manage your inbasket to provide better, more timely patient care

Physicians spend almost half of their day on the EHR and desk work Physicians spend almost half of their day on the EHR and desk work. Even during the patient visit, 37% of the time in the room is spent on these tasks.

What is inbasket management? The inbasket is the default location for any message that flows electronically through the practice’s EHR system, including staff messages, telephone messages, lab results, refill requests and patient portal messages. By categorizing messages in your inbasket, you can more easily manage the workload by sharing responsibility with other members of the care team.

What are the benefits to optimizing my inbasket? Eliminates unnecessary clerical work for clinicians, freeing up more time for direct patient care Establishes a centralized inbasket, which empowers team members to contribute in meaningful ways Provides more efficient and timely patient care

Six steps to create an optimal and orderly inbasket Engage IT to prepare for restructuring your inbasket Identify the types of messages that could be routed to other team members Work with IT to restructure your EHR to direct messages to the right team members and declutter your inbasket Create a team pool and team pool inbasket to help redistribute and streamline work Empower staff to contribute by utilizing principles of team-based care Develop workflows for common inbasket tasks

Tools/Resources available to your practice Team pool inbasket assignments worksheet Sample inbasket folders Sample telephone and refill encounter shortcuts Sample incoming call process map Sample paper form process map

How is it working at other practices? Minneapolis, MN Green Bay, WI Steps in Practice Summary = Location Featured Here Summarize the description of the steps in practice section in a bulleted format Keep it concise and straight to the point Think about what information would be helpful to a practice manager that is presenting this information Review other module pitch decks for examples

Jami Burroughs, MA Bellin Health “ Time management is crucial! Do small tasks in between patients—everyone thinks they don’t have the time, but even in a couple of minutes you can get a result or refill done. When your physician is in with a long appointment you could get more inbasket work done. ” Jami Burroughs, MA Bellin Health embed video

For additional resources, frequently asked questions and implementation support, visit stepsforward.org