Cold and flu season is around the corner, but the truth is life can hit at any time and throw even a well-run practice off balance. If you were suddenly out for more than a couple days, what would happen?
Exams and prescriptions might pause, but orders, scheduling, billing, and patient communication can keep moving if your systems are ready for it.
It’s worth thinking realistically about how things would run without you. Consider the self-audit below. Every practice handles passwords and daily responsibilities in its own way, but these steps can help you think about where a backup plan might be useful.
Step 1: Assess delegation
Look at your daily schedule and note which tasks truly require your input. There are probably a few that could be handled by your team with a little guidance or cross-training.
Ask yourself:
Who’s comfortable making quick decisions when something unexpected comes up?
Is the workload balanced so no one feels stretched too thin?
Does everyone know when to take the lead and when to loop you in?
Step 2: Review access and passwords
Even with role-based access in your EHR and vendor systems, there are always a few logins that live only with you. Make a list of what those are and where the credentials are stored.
Check that at least one trusted team member can reach essential non-clinical systems if needed — things like vendor ordering sites, office email, payroll, or other platform’s admin settings. If there are accounts you prefer to keep private, note where credentials or recovery details are stored and who could help access them in an emergency.
It’s the same kind of backup we should have for our personal accounts … yet most of us never quite get around to doing it.
Step 3: Test daily procedures
Pick a normal workday and intentionally pull back from the decisions that don’t technically require you. It’ll quickly become apparent what needs clearer instructions or better documentation. Make a list so you can address it.
Step 4: Communicate the continuity plan
Document and assign what staff should be doing (scheduling, orders, patient calls, and other day-to-day decisions that keep things moving) and what must wait. Write down the essentials and keep in an easy-to-find place, both physically and digitally.
Tips for creating the plan
Make it a simple one-page doc that includes:
- Delegation of who covers what tasks.
- Access and password information.*
- Contact list/info for vendors, labs, and major partners.
- Clarification on when and how staff should reach you.
*Meaning, provide a short reference list of where access lives (not the passwords themselves) so the team knows who can log in if you’re unavailable.
Further reading: Be Ready for the Unexpected with a Thorough Contingency Plan, Review of Optometric Business
If you’re out for more than a few days, things obviously won’t run as usual. The focus becomes keeping patients updated and your practice organized. As long as patients and staff know what to expect and nothing slips through the cracks, your schedule will bounce back quickly once you return.
Pro tip: Having trouble recalling every little decision that runs through you? You’re not alone! Next week, Optometry 411 will help jog your memory (and possibly lighten your load) with a list of tasks most ODs can delegate confidently. Stay tuned.
