How to See Patients More Efficiently: Dr. Tristan Nuri’s Showcase

Before PACE Cardiology had the Lean operation there were 25 plus cardiologists in the centre and in a practice this big that sees 40,000 plus patients it is difficult to have a system in place where they get their testing on time and they’re not lost in the shuffle and they’re also seen by the physician on time as well.

“I think with a system like Lean we have been able to cut back on the time for the testing, for the wait periods between the testings,” says Dr. Tristan Nuri, a general cardiologist in PACE Cardiology Clinic. “As far as I’m concerned, I get to see the patients once all the investigations are done on time so it has cut back my time as well. I’ve had a lot of feedback from the patients that say that because of this process they’re not waiting around for a long period of time so they get their tests done on time and they get to see me on time so it’s worked pretty well.”

“I would recommend this Lean program to others,” Dr. Nuri continues. “Like I said I have had the opportunity to work in a practice where there were only a few physicians – you’re able to get away without using the lean program in a smaller setting. But once the setting gets bigger, like I said, we’ve got multiple physicians and in a practice like cardiology where you have to do the ECGs, the echocardiograms, the echo, many cardiologists working in the same center, you need a system in place and I can’t recommend more than just Lean because this has worked for us.”

According to Dr. Nuri’s words, even if they were to increase the number of physicians more than 25, if that process is in place – they should be okay.

“When we have patients coming in, before they see me, they are supposed to have their information input in the system, they’re signed in, they get their investigations done, like the ECG, the echocardiograms, the treadmill stress echo if needed, and then after that they’re seen by the nurse practitioners to get the appropriate history before they see me, so with this flow we’ve noticed that the time between these investigations has cut down,” Dr. Tristan Nuri says.

“From multiple aspects, this has improved my practice because I am able to see the patients more efficiently and if there is extra time, I’m not wasting it waiting for the patients,” he concludes. “I’m able to spend that time discussing the disease process with the patients themselves. So time management is the key here. If I can save time between the investigations or in this process from the time they walk into the door, I’m able to spend more time with them and the key is that.”