The following are a collection of time and money saving tricks:
Use bed sheet to cover pillow. Don’t change pillowcase unless there has been contact with patient.
Try and fit all waveforms on one page and save the paper printouts and ink and storage.
Use machine printouts of the results to send to referring physicians instead of writing/typing the results.
Use hard pillow under posterior thigh for leg study to allow easy access to popliteal fossa.
Check the summary on the computer screen for mistakes and correct them before printing.
Print directions to the lab on requisitions supplied to referring physicians in the surrounding area.
Call patients the day before. Many have answering machines. It will reduce no shows.
Inform patients to be 15 early for registraion purposes if required.
Ask patients to bring the requisition from their physician and all their insurance and compensation information.
Ask patients to wear loose clothing and to have their limbs clean with no cream or lotion.
Have procedure in place to ensure billing information is correct and remittance are followed promptly
Design information sheet for history and physical exam so you don’t have to write everything.
Use basin of hot water to warm the hands of patients confined to stretchers and sink is inaccessible.
If hands have lotion/vaseline, get patient to wash in sink. If legs have lotion/vaseline, use lots of wet face cloths and soap. It’s quicker than cleaning with alcohol pads.
If the disposable EMG needles have cables attached to it, cut them off at the base before discarding the needle part in the sharps container. The container will take longer to fill up.
Acknowledgements
Prepared by Hussein Remtulla