Old habits, scheduling bottlenecks, and team misalignment often lurk unseen, sabotaging your prevention goals. A systematic audit reveals exactly where to focus your efforts.
Key takeaways
Anna Middleton proposes four methods to help you understand the current state of your practice and what is needed to shift towards a prevention-first approach:
Conduct a SWOT analysis
Take time to analyse both your practice and yourself to spotlight strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Map every step of the patient journey
By going through their experience from start to finish, you can find weaknesses, leaks, and breaks in the chain. It is also an excellent way to spot areas where prevention focus has been neglected and where it can easily be brought to the forefront.
Look for bumps in your day-to-day operation
Prevention often gets sidelined. Not because it is not important, but because there is “no time” or the team feels overwhelmed. Take a closer look at your day-to-day operations to uncover gaps, bottlenecks, or workflow friction that may be holding you back.
Talk with your team
Invest in team talks and workshops around prevention. Together, you will get a clear view of what is really going on in your practice, what each team member is passionate about, and where changes can be made.
Exercise: Confront your practice barriers