Tech should work for you, not against you (PIN #20)

Practice Independence

Staff at independent rehab therapy practices are pulling their hair out over the administrative overload.

They’re calling on tech to help.

But many find that it actually makes the situation so much worse.

Christopher Gaskins, PhD, OTR/L, and CEO of mobile neurorehabilitation practice Neurosuite, has experienced the disruption and the discomfort it brings firsthand.

Drawing on his PhD research in cognitive load theory and years of hands-on clinical experience, Gaskins has learned how to prevent technology from creating additional problems for employees already overburdened with administrative tasks.

Let’s dive in.

Stay informed, stay innovative.

On Today’s Rotation 🏅 

• Practice Insight: Don’t choose tech that destroys practice productivity.

• Clinical Intelligence: Consolidation, next-gen note-taking, and AI ambitions.

• Indie Insider: Get a comprehensive operational audit of your administrative workflows today.

• Pulse Check: We got a question for you.

The Remedy 💪

Many practices are struggling to keep up with documentation, pulling staff away from patient care while creating compliance risks.

Others are jumping through hoops to complete insurance verification.

Meanwhile, mobile practices, like Neurosuite, must navigate scheduling appointments across an expansive geographic area.

Some practices have the unfortunate responsibility of dealing with all of the above.

Technology promises relief, with tools like AI-powered scribes and automated scheduling platforms rising up to tackle the administrative burden. 

But Gaskins warns that these solutions can create more problems than they solve by disrupting workflows and introducing additional complexity that increases the cognitive load on already overwhelmed staff.

Whether tech helps or hinders often comes down to how it’s implemented. “Even with technological advances, technology is not being implemented correctly,” Gaskins observes. “This ends up placing more cognitive load on the user without the added benefit of improved performance.”

Time for some self-reflection

Technology should help streamline key tasks without placing additional pressure on the people who use it.

To avoid adding to the cognitive load, practices should ensure that new tools fit into their unique operations. When solutions align with existing workflows and technology, they blend into day-to-day tasks rather than disrupt them. 

This allows practices to benefit from increased efficiency without weighing on the mental bandwidth of their staff, truly freeing them to focus more on patient care and business growth.

Here’s how he approaches tech adoption:

1. Examine current processes

2. Identify tech requirements

3. Evaluate potential solutions for organizational fit

4. Implement with a focus on continuous monitoring and improvement

Get all the details on each step in our recently published playbook.

Clinical Intelligence 💡

• An NBER study found that the share of doctors working in hospital-owned practices has roughly doubled over the last 20 years — a trend closely tied to price increases in healthcare.

• How AI is changing medical summaries.

• There’s a huge disconnect between healthcare leaders’ AI ambitions and their business goals.

Want to learn more about Indie Health?

Indie is on a mission to improve the quality of life for rehab providers and their patients by combining technology with world-class rehab therapy. 

Click here to join the waitlist. We have limited spots available!