Using a productivity calculator in the rehab world can help you optimize your time management skills and enhance your productivity – ultimately keeping you on track as best as you can throughout your day.
I have talked about in previous posts on how I do not feel that “productivity” should be the word used, but instead use “billable units” and how can we be ethical while providing excellent occupational therapy care, while adhering to facility requirements.
As OT practitioners, many of us go into therapy to help people and increase their quality of life.
Your productivity does NOT equal your worth or the quality of care you provide!
But in this article, we’ll explore the benefits of rehab therapy productivity calculators, learn how to utilize work efficiently tips for helping maximize daily efficiency and help meet facility standards. We will look into the different features, an example of how you would use these calculators in your daily practice, and how to maximize productivity in a SNF because regardless of the stance on productivity, it is currently here to stay.
Understanding the benefits of using a productivity calculator
Using a calculator for productivity is a valuable tool that can significantly impact the efficiency and effectiveness of your occupational therapy practice to measure employee productivity. Understanding how to maximize your work efficiently improving practice management and meeting facility guidelines. Let’s delve into how to calculate your productivity and things to look for in a therapy rehab productivity calculator.
How do you calculate productivity?
Let’s dig into an example:
- How many billable therapy minutes did you actually charge for today
- 420 minutes/7 hours
- How many total number of hours where you at work
- You clock in at 8 am
- Take a half hour lunch break where you don’t get paid for
- Then clock out at the end of your work day at 4:30 pm = 480 minutes/8 hours
- Divide number of billable minutes by total number of minutes at work
- 420 minutes / 480 minutes = 0.875
- Multiply by 100 to get the percentage of “productivity”
- In this example, your productivity would be 87.5% for the day
Example
There are a number of calculators online that are free to use and many documentation systems include it as a part of their tracking, such as HCHB, NetHealth and Casamba, as they automatically calculate it for you.
Try it out here ⬇️⬇️⬇️
What do rehab companies consider billable when they calculate employee productivity?
Approaching a billable productivity percentage of nearing 100% necessitates a thorough examination to uphold medical ethics and billing integrity. When calculated using minutes worked and/or billed percentages hovering in the high 90s, this implies minimal non-billable time.
In a recent study, approximately 89% of the 135 participants surveyed agreed that high productivity requirements negatively impact patient care.
It’s important for therapists to accurately track and report their billable hours while ensuring compliance with facility policies and regulatory requirements. Additionally, non-billable activities such as administrative tasks, breaks, and travel time between patient sessions are typically excluded from productivity calculations in SNF settings.
Maximizing productivity in a SNF setting
Maximizing productivity as an occupational therapist in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) involves efficient time management, effective communication, and strategic use of resources. Here’s a general breakdown of how you can achieve this, but if you are looking for specific and practical tips, check out this blog post called, 8 Excellent SNF Productivity Tips For OT Practitioners.
- Prioritize Tasks: Start your day by identifying the most critical tasks that need to be accomplished. Focus on activities that directly contribute to patient care and rehabilitation goals.
- Know Your Patient’s Goals: Set specific and achievable goals for each patient you work with. This helps to streamline your interventions and ensures that your efforts are targeted towards meaningful outcomes.
- Utilize a Therapy Productivity Calculator: These can help you track and measure your performance against set targets. These tools typically calculate productivity based on the number of billable hours worked compared to the expected hours. By regularly monitoring your productivity metrics, you can identify areas for improvement and adjust your workflow accordingly.
- Effective Documentation: Streamline your documentation process by ensuring that your documentation is accurate, concise, and completed in a timely manner to meet regulatory requirements.
- Collaboration and Communication: Foster open communication and collaboration with colleagues, including nurses, CNAs, housekeepers, dietary teammembers and other team members. #teamworkmakesthedreamwork
In a world where time is a valuable commodity, therapists are constantly seeking ways to enhance their productivity and efficiency. By incorporating therapy productivity calculators into their daily routine, therapists can optimize their time management skills and ultimately improve the quality of care they provide to their patients.
These tools not only streamline tasks and track time effectively, but also offer a tangible way to keep you on track to meet facility requirements.
