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Wade Court Medical Centre — Automation Audit

An hours-first review of manual paperwork across reception, administration and practice management
Prepared forDr Marhaf Kalaji
LocationPerth, Western Australia
InterviewedDr Marhaf Kalaji (owner and principal GP)
ConsultantAaron Kalaji (automation consultant)
~12.3 hrs
Manual hours per week today
Combined current weekly hours across the three proposed workflows.
~464 hrs
Hours freed per year
Current hours per year minus after-automation hours per year.
72%
Reduction in time spent
Hours freed as a share of current hours per year.
~61.1 days
Working days freed per year
Hours freed per year divided by a 7.6-hour working day.
Figures rest on the session's stated volumes: about 20 new patients a week, about 30 results recall calls a week with about a third needing a second call, about 40 referral letters a week, and about 4 hours a month of care plan recall work, over a 52-week year. Confidential — prepared for Wade Court Medical Centre. Not for external distribution.

Executive summary

Overview

The practice sees around 600 patients a week with four doctors, one nurse and three reception and admin staff. The owner's concern is that admin staff spend most of the day on static, repetitive paperwork rather than patient-facing work. The session walked through five repetitive jobs; this audit quantifies the three strongest candidates and treats the rest as supporting context or a next-phase item.

Strengths

The practice already runs Best Practice for clinical and billing, HotDoc for online bookings and Outlook for email, so the core systems for structured intake and outbound messaging are in place. The owner has a clear view of which work is most static and repetitive.

Primary constraint

Reception and admin time is consumed by retyping paper into systems and by manual outbound contact, with tracking held in a spreadsheet that is fragile when staff are away.

Business context

Wade Court Medical Centre is a single family practice. The owner and principal GP sets direction; three reception and admin staff carry the repetitive paperwork; the practice manager runs the monthly care plan due report. Best Practice holds clinical and billing records, HotDoc handles online bookings, and Outlook carries email.

Where manual effort is concentrated

Paper intake retyped by hand

About 10 minutes typing plus 5 minutes records request per new patient, around 20 a week
New patients complete a paper form at the desk and reception types the whole thing into Best Practice, then requests previous records separately, so reception time goes into retyping rather than patient-facing work and incomplete forms push questions back into the consult.
Addressed by: New patient registration and records request

Dictation retyped into letters

About 6 minutes per letter, around 40 a week
Doctors dictate referrals and reception types each letter before sending, so a large, steady volume of typing sits with reception and delays outgoing correspondence.
Addressed by: Outgoing referral letters

Manual recall calls and fragile tracking

About 5 minutes per call, around 30 calls a week, about a third needing a second call
Reception phones every flagged patient and tracks outstanding recalls in a spreadsheet, so repeat calls consume time and tracking breaks down when someone is on leave.
Addressed by: Results recall calls

Care plan recalls reach only half of those due

About 4 hours a month
The practice manager runs a monthly due report and rings or writes to patients manually, so half of due patients are not reached, leaving chronic care reviews incomplete.
Addressed by: Results recall calls

Medicare rejection rework

About 10 minutes per rejection, around 10 a week
Rejections usually come from an expired card or a wrong item number and are fixed and resubmitted by hand, so recurring rework adds to the admin load and can be reduced by cleaner intake data.
Addressed by: New patient registration and records request

Three proposed workflows

Across these three areas, the practice currently spends about 12.3 hours a week on manual work.

1New patient registration and records request

Trigger: A new patient arrives and completes a paper form at the desk
Role: Reception and admin staffPriority: Largest single time saver and the owner's first pickImpact: 9Complexity: 5
Stuck pointThe whole paper form is retyped by hand, and incomplete answers come back to the doctor in the consult.
Current hours/week5 hrs
After automation hours/week1 hrs
Hours freed/year208 hrs

Current Process

New patient fills in a paper form at the desk
Reception types the whole form into Best Practice
Reception requests previous records from the prior clinic
Doctor re-asks allergies and medications if the form was incomplete

Future Process

New patient completes a structured digital intake form before or at arrival
Structured responses are written into Best Practice
A records request is generated and sent to the prior clinic
Reception reviews flagged incomplete or ambiguous answers
Doctor confirms clinical details in the consult
PatientPracticeSystem
Before

Typing the paper form into Best Practice plus requesting previous records, per new patient

After

Reception reviews a structured digital intake and a generated records request instead of retyping

Workflow context

Trigger: A new patient arrives and completes a paper form at the desk

Role: Reception and admin staff

Current flow: New patient fills in a paper form at the desk; Reception types the whole form into Best Practice; Reception requests previous records from the prior clinic; Doctor re-asks allergies and medications if the form was incomplete.

Future flow: New patient completes a structured digital intake form before or at arrival; Structured responses are written into Best Practice; A records request is generated and sent to the prior clinic; Reception reviews flagged incomplete or ambiguous answers; Doctor confirms clinical details in the consult.

Tools Used
Digital intake formBest PracticeAutomated records request
What Stays Human

Reception reviews incomplete or ambiguous intake answers, and the doctor confirms allergies and medications clinically.

2Outgoing referral letters

Trigger: A doctor dictates a referral for a patient
Role: Reception and admin staffPriority: High-volume typing the owner named directlyImpact: 8Complexity: 5
Stuck pointEvery dictated letter is retyped by reception before it can go out.
Current hours/week4 hrs
After automation hours/week1.2 hrs
Hours freed/year145.6 hrs

Current Process

Doctor dictates the referral
Reception types the letter
Reception sends the letter

Future Process

Doctor dictates the referral
Dictation is transcribed into a draft letter
Doctor reviews and approves the draft
Reception sends the approved letter
PatientPracticeSystem
Before

Typing and sending a dictated referral letter

After

Doctor reviews a transcribed draft and reception sends it

Workflow context

Trigger: A doctor dictates a referral for a patient

Role: Reception and admin staff

Current flow: Doctor dictates the referral; Reception types the letter; Reception sends the letter.

Future flow: Doctor dictates the referral; Dictation is transcribed into a draft letter; Doctor reviews and approves the draft; Reception sends the approved letter.

Tools Used
Dictation transcriptionOutlook
What Stays Human

The doctor reviews and approves every referral letter before it is sent.

3Results recall calls

Trigger: A doctor marks a result as needing a follow-up appointment
Role: Reception and admin staffPriority: Frequent manual calls with fragile trackingImpact: 7Complexity: 4
Stuck pointEvery recall is a manual phone call, and tracking depends on a spreadsheet that breaks down when someone is on leave.
Current hours/week3.3 hrs
After automation hours/week1.2 hrs
Hours freed/year110.8 hrs

Current Process

Doctor flags a result for follow-up
Reception phones the patient to book an appointment
Reception calls again the next day if the patient did not pick up
Reception tracks outstanding recalls in a spreadsheet

Future Process

Doctor flags a result for follow-up
An automated message invites the patient to book
Patient books through the online booking channel
Reception calls patients who have not responded
Outstanding recalls are tracked in a shared list
PatientPracticeSystem
Before

Blended across first calls and the roughly one third needing a second call, per recall

After

Automated invitation plus reception follow-up only for non-responders

Workflow context

Trigger: A doctor marks a result as needing a follow-up appointment

Role: Reception and admin staff

Current flow: Doctor flags a result for follow-up; Reception phones the patient to book an appointment; Reception calls again the next day if the patient did not pick up; Reception tracks outstanding recalls in a spreadsheet.

Future flow: Doctor flags a result for follow-up; An automated message invites the patient to book; Patient books through the online booking channel; Reception calls patients who have not responded; Outstanding recalls are tracked in a shared list.

Tools Used
Automated patient messagingHotDocShared recall list
What Stays Human

Reception calls patients who do not respond, and clinical follow-up remains with the doctor.

Supporting workflows

Supporting New patient registration and records request

Medicare rejection rework

Rejected claims, usually from an expired card or wrong item number, are corrected and resubmitted by reception; cleaner intake data would reduce the upstream cause.

View details

Problem: Rejected claims, usually from an expired card or wrong item number, are corrected and resubmitted by reception; cleaner intake data would reduce the upstream cause.

Incomplete form follow-up

When a paper form is incomplete, the doctor re-asks allergies and medications in the consult; structured intake aims to close this gap.

View details

Problem: When a paper form is incomplete, the doctor re-asks allergies and medications in the consult; structured intake aims to close this gap.

Supporting Results recall calls

Care plan review recalls

The practice manager runs a monthly due report and rings or writes to patients on chronic care plans, reaching only about half of those due; this is a related recall journey that could share the same outreach and tracking approach.

View details

Problem: The practice manager runs a monthly due report and rings or writes to patients on chronic care plans, reaching only about half of those due; this is a related recall journey that could share the same outreach and tracking approach.

Recall tracking spreadsheet

Outstanding recalls are held in a spreadsheet that works until someone is on leave, motivating a shared tracked list.

View details

Problem: Outstanding recalls are held in a spreadsheet that works until someone is on leave, motivating a shared tracked list.

Manual hours per year — three parent workflows compared

Current hours/year After automation hours/year
Total hours freed across all three workflows: ~464 hrs (current ~641 hrs, after automation ~177 hrs).

What's next

Online telehealth booking

What was asked

Patients keep asking to book telehealth online instead of ringing; whether it is worth doing now.

Position

The following item was considered and assessed in this session. The position below is a considered recommendation, not a dismissal. It is a viable next-phase opportunity that should follow the three quantified workflows, because it depends on the same online booking and patient messaging foundations.

Rationale

  • The session treated telehealth booking as a separate item rather than part of the admin paperwork audit.
  • It builds on HotDoc online booking and the patient messaging used in results recall.
  • No handling time or volume for telehealth booking was discussed, so it cannot be quantified here.

Revisit conditions

  • After the results recall and new patient intake changes are in place
  • When the practice can share telehealth request volumes and current phone handling time

Linked captured work

Results recall calls