TWR Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 I work in a busy family practice using Athena EMR and find sometimes, an overwhelming number of "tasks" that should be addressed in a timely manner such as labs, imaging, refill requests, etc. but physically impossible to address sufficiently during office hours so some PA's NP's address these tasks at home and weekends. I know the practice will not reimburse for that time. Any thoughts? Approximately 18-20 patients daily in an 8 to 5 M-F with 1 hour for lunch which is usually 15-20 minutes. Also, each clinician takes the on-call phone home for one week at a time which truthfully really rings and is usually a "panic" value lab. Any thought or advice?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAAdmission Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 I had a gig where I was an hourly employee. For a long time I used to stay late to catch up paperwork. Even getting paid, it got to be a burden at the end of a 12 hours shift. I got to the point that every 3-4 patients I would ensure that I caught up on paperwork. If it meant others had to wait a little longer, so be it. The hospital CEO wasn't taking much work home. 3 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 Never work for free. I never work at home. Hard boundry between work and home. I don't let it cross the threshhold. If you pay me for 8 hours of work you get 8 hours of work. 4 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted January 17, 2023 Moderator Share Posted January 17, 2023 I too am on Athena. My employer is abusing PA and NP i have put a hard stop to work at home. Let ‘em pile up. no more giving away my expertise for free while they make more and more money. 3 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWR Posted January 17, 2023 Author Share Posted January 17, 2023 I should add that I am paid hourly and do come in early and stay a little later for my admin. Always on the clock. Surprisingly the NP's seem to be backed up and wind up with literally hundreds of tasks. They are all a lot younger than me. I always finish charting my patient before seeing the next one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 2 hours ago, TWR said: They are all a lot younger than me. In fairness Tom....everyone is. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SedRate Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Agree with the others to chart as you go and create a healthy work-life balance, i.e., don't take work home. Easier said than done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted January 18, 2023 Administrator Share Posted January 18, 2023 Sad to say, I now do 100% of my admin work at home, and don't get paid a dime extra for the work I take home... ... But oh yeah, I'm running my own clinic, so I have no one to blame but myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 18, 2023 Moderator Share Posted January 18, 2023 13 hours ago, SedRate said: Agree with the others to chart as you go and create a healthy work-life balance, i.e., don't take work home. Easier said than done... Both the EMRs I use (Cerner and epic) allow only 4 open charts at once. I really try not to see patient #5 unless they are dying until I finish at least one chart. That way I have a max of 4 charts to complete at the end of a shift. It works 95% of the time. I also agree with "don't work for free". The other thing I have taken to doing is not attending to the lab result file for patients who are not mine. . The docs at that particular job make 3 times what I do hourly. They can deal with that bit of scut work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWR Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 EMED I agree with your last 2 sentences. I will make it a point to forward labs that are not mine, same for imaging etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SedRate Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 10 hours ago, EMEDPA said: Both the EMRs I use (Cerner and epic) allow only 4 open charts at once. I really try not to see patient #5 unless they are dying until I finish at least one chart. That way I have a max of 4 charts to complete at the end of a shift. It works 95% of the time. I also agree with "don't work for free". The other thing I have taken to doing is not attending to the lab result file for patients who are not mine. . The docs at that particular job make 3 times what I do hourly. They can deal with that bit of scut work. That's a great tactic. I try to chart something on each pt (or set of pts on rounds/in clinic) as I go cuz otherwise the day gets away from me and nothing's been done. And then when I have a quiet moment, I knock em out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobuddy Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 I also have Athena and the worklist is crazy. Yesterday I saw 32 and I am at home right now working on finishing charts/labs, etc. The only way I see to make this less crazy is to see less patients. I also do not address any labs or imaging or prescriptions that are not my patients - I forward them to the appropriate provider. I was off on Thursdays - I work 4-10 hour days and I walked in to 20 "patient cases" that wanted to speak to ONLY me regarding their tests or had other questions. That can be a whole days work without seeing one patient in the office. I forwarded all of those to the nurses . The workload in PC is overwhelming most days - hence the other topic I have in this forum about taking a different job that I would not love - but less "work from home" without pay. I did choose to make it a point to leave the office to finish work at home - so at least I am at home...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted January 21, 2023 Moderator Share Posted January 21, 2023 Athena makes to many tasks. route almost all of them to nursing. I even send refill requests to them to prep for my signature. patients never get to talk to me directly with out talking with a nurse first. 20 day is reasonable in Athena with text macros, quick text and brief notes. tasks lists—— your nurses and MA are paid to do them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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