Depending on what part of the world you live in, post-pandemic life is slowly starting to open back up. Although some things such as doctors’ offices, clinics, and hospitals never fully closed, the way they operate has changed significantly.

Appointments Pre-Pandemic

Before the pandemic hit, you went about your medical appointments without a second thought. You would show up, sign in, sit and wait (and wait, and wait) until a nurse would bring you back to a room. There, you continued to sit and wait, and sometimes your frustration or anxiety would creep in. By the time you left, your mind was filled with a not-so-great experience.

Medical Appointments During the Pandemic

During this time, everyone in clinics, offices, and hospitals was on the front line. The public, in general, started to have a different opinion of workers who were putting their lives on the line – literally every single day.

This is when people started paying more attention to what goes on during appointments and just how many workers go into running our healthcare system.

A Visit to Your Medical Professional Today

There is quite a bit that goes into an appointment. Office staff, nurses, and doctors juggle different, and often extra, duties compared to pre-pandemic appointments.

Let’s take a look at what goes on when someone has a routine medical visit.

You let the office know you’ve arrived for your appointment. Sometimes that’s done via an app, or you call the front desk.

Behind the scenes: There are receptionists taking the calls, there are people either pulling charts and files or getting your EMR (electronic medical record – your file) pulled up and in que for the doctor to see you.

You come in and they verify your information and let you know where to sit to be called back.

Behind the scenes: Not only are receptionists helping you, they are also making sure the counter and pen you touched are sanitized for the next person. When you get up from the chair in the waiting room, someone comes by to sanitize the chair for the next patient. There is also the billing department staff that are looking up co-pays, processing payments, and printing receipts.

A nurse comes to get you, then takes you back to get your weight on the way to the room.

Behind the scenes: Have you ever noticed all of the people working around you when you’re doing that simple thing?

You enter the room where you sit down and your blood pressure and temperature are taken. The nurse asks you routine questions and records the responses in the computer.

Behind the scenes: Before you entered the room, a worker made sure to time the sanitization of the room so it was ready for you – including the chairs, keyboard, desk, exam table, and all needed equipment.

The doctor comes in to see you, sanitizing, sitting, going through his/her laptop, getting your recently updated information. Depending on the reason for your appointment, there are any number of instruments and other materials needed to carry out your examination.

Behind the scenes: The nurse leaves, again sanitizing the gloves or their hands as they let the doctor know you are ready. All the necessary items were taken from a supply closet or storeroom and set up for the doctor’s use. Keep in mind that all of this is done just for you.

Nurses and clinic staff are human. They need a sip of water, a snack, and a restroom break. This is all timed around your appointments, the doctor, and other patients.

The doctor may require labs to be taken. Normally you have to leave and go to another area for this.

Behind the scenes: There is paperwork being shared as to what needs to happen – x-rays, blood work, you name it. There is a nurse preparing the materials, paperwork, stickers with your information, etc. before you even get to them. Of course, everything is being sanitized which is all being timed out as well.

After You Leave the Appointment

After your visit, there are a lot of activities that go on behind the scenes: workers are dealing with billing, medical notes and forms, as well as additional steps and phone calls/emails/faxes to book specialist appointments. Not to mention the follow-up to ensure your appointments have been booked and you received the information. Plus your doctor calling to give you any medical test results. The list goes on and on…

Patience, Understanding, and Grace

Much of this is a new routine or enhanced additional work for staff as well as ourselves. Please take a moment to stop and think about all the people who are taking care of things behind the scenes so you can visit your doctor. Please extend a bit of grace to everyone involved. If I can help you in any way with regard to your medical clinic routines and procedures, please reach out to me. I have an extensive background assisting clinics and staff with making their office run as smoothly as possible. I am here to help in whatever way I can.

Organized MD – treating the ill elements of your time and spaces!

Certified Virtual Professional Organizers Provide Powerful Services Every Day

Virtual meetings. Virtual classrooms. Virtual conferences. Virtual events. Virtual happy hours. Virtual book clubs. Virtual game nights. Virtual dinners. Virtual is a word we have used more in the past year than any other.

Whether it’s because of homeschooling and working from home or being in lockdown, we have become much more aware of our living space and its belongings. Many people have used this time to sort through closets, boxes, basements, and garages.

Some have wanted to or even tried to but came to the realization that this is a task that’s more than they can take on by themselves.

Enter Virtual Organizing.

What is Virtual Organizing?

Before we talk about virtual organizing, let’s define organizing. Simply put, organizing is arranging items in an order. Some synonyms are; structure, assemble, sort, group, order, classify, categorize, and systematize.

Virtual organizing is doing organizational things via technology or computer software. There are many different platforms with video chat capabilities, the most popular being Zoom, FaceTime, and Google Hangouts. This is the closest way people can be “together” without being in the same physical space.

This is just one of the benefits of virtual organizing as opposed to in-person organization. You can still get organized regardless of pandemic restrictions and protocols.

Another benefit of virtual organizing is that it promotes brain activity and development. Working in collaboration with an organizer is stimulating due to the thought process required for planning.

Virtually serving your needs is more flexible than in-person organizing. There is less travel required on the organizer’s part, creating more availability in their schedule.

How Does Virtual Organizing Work?

The first step to virtual organizing is to have a consultation with the organizer. Here you will discuss your needs, take a virtual tour of your space, and decide if you two are a good fit to work together.

From there, any other information will be gathered and the organizer will put together a plan for your space. If there are organization materials needed, those will be purchased and collected at this time. A date and time are scheduled to begin.

A schedule will be put in place depending on what you and your organizer have agreed will work best.

Many organizers include a follow-up meeting a month or so after the project has finished to help make tweaks or changes to best meet your needs.

Do You Know There Are Certified Virtual Professional Organizers?

There is a certification program for Professional Organizers who are committed to becoming educated in the different ways necessary to virtually support their clients.

“Certification as a Virtual Professional Organizer (CVPO™) indicates that you are committed to your work through continued learning and your support in sustaining the industry’s integrity through best practices.”
-The Certified Virtual Organizer

Not only is previous organizing experience required, but organizers must also pass an exam to prove their proficiency with higher-level training and skills to uphold the ethics of the profession of Virtual Organizing (VO).

CVPO’s have the most current research and theories to bring to your organizing project. Not to mention the continued support and community of other certified professionals.

When Do You Want to Get Started?

I proudly hold the title of Certified Professional Organizer (CPO) and Certified Virtual Professional Organizer (CVPO). I am certified to help you get decluttered, organized, create systems, increase your productivity, and improve your time management – all virtually! This can be quite an empowering experience for you to take ownership of your space.

Want a cost-effective way of working together with shorter organizing sessions? Are you still in lockdown? Do you want to take full advantage of your time while you are at home? Not quite comfortable having someone into your home?

Call Organized MD. I will help you get any (some, or all) of your spaces organized, find a time management system that works for you, and help increase your productivity – and I’m certified to do so virtually.