Office disorganization can be more than just a nuisance—it can be expensive. Not only does it hurt efficiency and hinder productivity, it can cause important documents to become lost or forgotten, which can be a dangerous proposition if you're working in an financial-based organization.
For example, the accounts receivable department at a hospital must be organized at all times to ensure there are no setbacks during billing and claims processing. Sometimes, outstanding accounts can linger, which could ultimately cause an organization to lose sight of more pressing matters, such as active, high-volume accounts. While there are many factors that can cause these accounts to linger, it's often a case of disorganization.
A recent article in Orlando Medical News talked about this and detailed the financial ramifications of a disorganized medical accounting office.
"If your staff has trouble finding patient charts, supplies are often not ordered in enough time, patient billing is backlogged, or supervision of staff takes up a good deal of your time? Then disorganization is costing you a lot of money!" wrote Jenny Charbonneau, the article's author. "We have all witnessed these shortcomings in medical offices: patients frustrated at having to wait in the lobby well after their appointment time, unfriendly or unresponsive staff, missing or incorrect information in medical records, etc. The lack of organization in medical practices cuts profits dramatically."
Many times, disorganization is the result of nothing but a lack of resources. Whether a department is short on tools or manpower, if it cannot effectively manage its accounts it may need to reach out to a third party provider. These professionals can manage outstanding accounts while allowing you to focus on the more important matters in your department. Freeing up these tasks will allow you to become more organized and, therefore, more profitable.