Task Management is an essential part of day to day clinical operations. Running a busy practice across multiple treatment rooms, clinicians, admin teams and sites requires structure and accountability and a solution that delivers these whilst being easy and efficient to use. 

A high quality Task Manager should be a core function of any Practice Management software solution - integrated as a tab or button within the system and not requiring any additional software, devices or logins to be used. 

This integration is critically important for a number of reasons. 

Firstly it removes the need for multiple systems to be in use, reducing the opportunity for tasks to be missed and streamlining communication within the system. This ensures that Task Notifications can be monitored continuously as well as being allocated and marked completed in real time by users. 

Secondly, it allows Tasks to be assigned to individual patients within the system - to ensure that lab work is followed up on, results are checked before a patient appointment, payment status is updated etc. 

Thirdly, it allows for real accountability in tracking who has allocated a task, at what time, and who it has been shared with, all within the same user login. An audit and accountability trail can be created for each task created within the system. 

Finally, an integrated Task Management solution allows users to keep all of their critical information about their working day in one centralised place. And if you are using a Cloud-based solution such as AeronaClinic, this information is securely available from any internet enabled device, at any time. This enables users to check and manage their tasks from their phone, tablet or computer and plan & monitor their working day at their convenience. 

Regardless of whether your Task Management solution is integrated or not, there is some core functionality that you need to ensure is present if you are to have a useful and usable tool at your disposal to increase efficiency and effectiveness across your practice. 

Quick and easy visibility. A successful dental practice is a busy place with a constantly changing roster of patients and practitioners in any given place at any given time. Users need to be able to check their tasks at a glance and a clear and clean interface is important to allow for ease and accuracy of use. No-one wants to have to go searching and clicking their way through a system in order to understand what tasks are outstanding. 

Discreet Alerts. You need to know when your tasks are urgent, recent or overdue - but no-one else in the room with you does! Alerts that are clear and persistent but not audible or distracting are a really useful feature for users to keep on top of what needs to be done and ensure that nothing is missed or forgotten.

Clear Line Management. Your Task Management system needs to be able to show you quickly and easily who set a task, which person or team it was allocated to and when, as well as the timeline for task completion. This minimises the room for error and ensures accountability for task setting, monitoring and completion. 

An effective Task Management tool connects all Practice Staff, structures their working day and ensures that all tasks are allocated, notified and executed across the entire business. With a full back-end audit trail everyone is accountable for their tasks, compliance is supported, and communication is clear. 

A high quality Task Manager is a hugely practical tool which saves time and money in clinics all day, every day. And if it is Cloud-based, you can view and manage your tasks from any device at any time. What could be easier than that?! 

To learn more about the latest Task and Practice Management solutions, please contact the Aerona Team today!