Welcome to the Sustainable Clinical Medicine Podcast!

In this episode, Dr. Sarah Smith is joined by Sue Peters—a healthcare improvement leader with a background in audiology and extensive experience in quality improvement for clinical teams. Sue and Sarah dive into the day-to-day challenges clinicians face, from the dreaded in-basket workload to the complexities of team communication and patient care coordination.

Together, they explore practical strategies to streamline processes, clarify roles within clinical teams, and leverage everyone's unique skills to create more efficient and sustainable practice environments. Sue shares actionable tips on offloading non-physician work, optimizing EMRs, and effectively onboarding patients—all while ensuring that both providers and patients benefit from these improvements. Plus, they chat about breaking old habits, embracing true teamwork, and even finding ways to take things out of everyone's overloaded "backpack."

Here are 3 key takeaways from this episode:

1. Embrace Team-Based Care: Don’t try to shoulder all the work alone. By clearly defining roles and empowering every member of the care team—from RNs and LPNs to MOAs—practices can improve patient access, reduce wait times, and allow clinicians to focus on what matters most.
2. Optimize Your EMR Processes: Standardizing how we populate and use EMR data not only improves patient care, but also makes it much easier to delegate and manage population health. Consistency in documentation enables actionable reporting—and lets the right team member handle the right task.
3. Involve Everyone in Change: Successful quality improvement requires all voices at the table, not just physicians. When team members participate in designing solutions, they’re more engaged, invested, and open to new ways of working.

Sue Peters Bio:

Sue Peters is a Healthcare Improvement Leader working with Primary Care and Specialty Teams to achieve true team-based care through Quality Improvement. Imagine a team where every member has a critical role in patient care and is working to top of scope, allowing you to focus on the work for which you are highly trained - It is possible.

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Would you like to view a transcript of this episode? Click here

Learn more about our guest: https://petersconsulting.ca/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-peters-b8661774/

**** Charting Champions is a premiere, lifetime access Physician only program that is helping Physicians get home with today's work done. All the proven tools, support and community you need to create time for your life outside of medicine.

Learn more at https://www.chartingcoach.ca

**** Enjoying this podcast? Please share it with someone who would benefit. Also, don’t forget to hit “follow” so you get all the new episodes as soon as they are released.

**** Come hang out with me on Facebook or Instagram. Follow me @chartingcoach to get more practical tools to help you create sustainable clinical medicine in your life.

**** Questions? Comments? Want to share how this podcast has helped you? Shoot me an email at admin@reachcareercoaching.ca. I would love to hear from you.

Welcome to the Sustainable Clinical Medicine Podcast!

In today’s episode, Dr. Sarah Smith tackles a challenge every clinician knows all too well—the dreaded backlog. Whether its unfinished charts, lab results waiting for review, or paperwork accumulated from a busy week, backlog is that persistent weight that follows us home and keeps us up at night. Dr. Smith gets real about the emotional toll backlog can take, from the shame and overwhelm to the constant struggle to find time amidst ever-increasing clinical demands.

You’ll hear practical tips for managing your backlog, transforming bonus moments in your day into productive opportunity, and making a concrete plan that helps you finally clear that In-basket. Plus, learn more about Backlog Buddies, Dr. Smith’s virtual co-working sessions designed to keep you accountable and in good company as you power through your outstanding tasks. If you’re tired of letting backlog steal your free time and sanity, this episode is packed with insights to help you reclaim both your workday and your life outside of medicine. Tune in and discover how to turn backlog from an endless chore into a manageable—and even occasionally satisfying—part of your clinical routine.

Here are 3 key takeaways from this episode:

1. Plan Ahead for Backlog: Don’t wait for the “right moment”—schedule dedicated sessions to tackle backlog and decide ahead of time what you’ll work on first.
2. Use Bonus Time Wisely: Take advantage of unexpected lulls or no-shows by knowing in advance which quick tasks you can clear off your list in those smaller pockets of time.
3. Celebrate Small Wins: Set a clear end time for backlog work, then acknowledge your progress—even if you only get a few tasks done. Being kind to yourself is crucial for sustainability.

Backlog Buddies:

Backlog Buddies is A Virtual Co-Working Space for Physicians and Clinicians to get their incomplete tasks and charts done. Set aside procrastination, work hard alongside peers for 2 hours and be delighted in what you can achieve with dedicated time and friends.

Whether you’ve got a massive backlog or just a few lingering tasks, we’re here to support you. This is your chance to clear the clutter faster—and create more time for life outside of medicine.

Rather than spending your whole weekend cleaning the kitchen for the fourth time, come to a session and get started. And when you're done? Have something fun planned. You'll deserve it.

We have times available on Saturday mornings, Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, and Monday mornings. Choose a time slot that works for you. Each session is 2 hours.

We can't wait to see you at your next Backlog Buddies session!

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Would you like to view a transcript of this episode? Click here

Learn more about Backlog Buddies backlogbuddies.com

**** Charting Champions is a premiere, lifetime access Physician only program that is helping Physicians get home with today's work done. All the proven tools, support and community you need to create time for your life outside of medicine.

Learn more at https://www.chartingcoach.ca

**** Enjoying this podcast? Please share it with someone who would benefit. Also, don’t forget to hit “follow” so you get all the new episodes as soon as they are released.

**** Come hang out with me on Facebook or Instagram. Follow me @chartingcoach to get more practical tools to help you create sustainable clinical medicine in your life.

**** Questions? Comments? Want to share how this podcast has helped you? Shoot me an email at admin@reachcareercoaching.ca. I would love to hear from you.