A Doctor Delegates to a Remote Assistant to Reduce Weekly Hours By 50%

When a medical practice loses its administrative support, how can the doctors balance their daily operations while still providing the best care possible?

We had a fascinating discussion with Double customer Dr. Lesley Kirby, who discovered the power of delegating to reduce her intense workload and save her time.

Sudden Loss of Long-Term Administrative Support

Dr. Kirby tests adult hearing and provides cochlear implants and hearing equipment. She’s built up a thriving practice and employs a team of ten.

However, when her long-term practice administrator resigned after a decade, she was suddenly faced with a dilemma: “I was left with the full plate of her work. There was not enough time to do that on my own. I attempted to hire someone in-house, but I did not like that arrangement.”

Since Dr. Kirby’s hiring efforts hit a dead end, she began thinking about hiring a virtual assistant. She discovered Double and believed it would be a great choice: “In my situation, it didn't work to have someone in person. Virtual assistance has really solved that feeling of having someone truly there for you.”

How Delegating to a Remote Assistant Halves Weekly Workload

Dr. Kirby’s Double assistant, Delma, began to take on the work that had bogged everyone down since the last practice administrator left. Delma handles things like:

• Daily Practice Operations
• Email and Phone Correspondence
• Patient Support
• Paying Bills
• Graphic Design
• Coordinating Team Meetings
• Preparing Agendas
• Teaching and Implementing Tech Tools

When we asked about the impact of having an assistant, Dr. Kirby said: “What Double and Delma have provided me is peace of mind. I know the behind-the-scenes things are getting done. When I’m with patients, she can focus on that. Emails and bills are being paid. It takes up hours a week, and Delma does it so quickly, whereas it might take much longer for me to handle it between seeing patients and running my practice. Delma is very bright, quick, and takes things off my plate.”

Delma’s help cut down on Dr. Kirby’s time spent at the office:

The growth that I've experienced is because of Delma. I used to work 80 hours a week, and Delma has literally halved that for me and then some.

A Perfect Culture Match

From the moment Dr. Kirby met Delma, she knew that it was going to be a good fit:

Double really listened to me when I met with the team about finding the right EA. I told them about my values and culture at my practice, and they found Delma, who was the perfect fit based on what I asked for. When a business builds a specific work culture, it's so important to add people into your organization that have the same work values and integrity.

Beyond her positive initial impression of Delma, Dr. Kirby explains that her trust in her abilities has only grown over time: “At first, I gave Delma a list of initial tasks that she could start with. Then, I started delegating more complex things, such as organizational tasks and payment. We ramped up really fast.”

Focusing On What Matters Most

Since working with Double, Dr. Kirby has been able to reduce her stress levels, decrease her hours at work, and focus all her attention on providing the best patient care possible:

Before Double, I didn't have time, and I had to do everything on my own. But that has since been lifted from my plate. I've been able to delegate all of the tasks that take me away from doing what I love most.