3 Ways to Eliminate Clutter in Physician Offices

Taryn Tawoda - Friday, July 13th, 2012

An American Medical News report highlights three strategies for de-cluttering physician offices:

Develop a long-term plan. De-cluttering an office goes beyond weekly cleanup and should include policies for monitoring waiting room reading material, patient charts, office signage and out-of-date equipment.
Limit desk space personalization if visible to patients. While personalization of employee desk spaces should not be banned, the practice should establish policies to reduce the perception of clutter, such as limiting the number of photos allowed on the desk.
Manage paper records and copies. To reduce the amount of paper in the office, the practice should have policies addressing how long patient medical records are kept, which documents must be disposed of securely and which can be scanned and stored electronically.