Manual Reminders: How a Portland Chiropractic Clinic Saved Staff Time
At Rose City Chiropractic, Dr. Lauren Hayes noticed that keeping patients informed was consuming more staff time than expected. Between appointment-related calls, follow-ups, scheduling questions, and repeated outreach attempts, routine communication was steadily taking attention away from patients already inside the Portland practice.
Instead of adding another administrative task list, the team reorganized patient communication around Borna, making follow-ups easier to track and giving patients more digital ways to respond and schedule. Within 90 days, illustrative weekly communication workload fell from 7.1 to 4.1 hours.
Routine Communication Was Consuming Staff Hours
Small Tasks Added Up Every Week
Dr. Hayes initially saw reminder-related communication as a collection of small tasks. But together, checking pending patient requests, making calls, sending messages, documenting responses, and handling scheduling questions consumed approximately 7.1 staff hours each week, time taken from other patient-facing responsibilities.
The team tried designated communication blocks and shared task lists. They created more structure, but employees still had to remember what required attention and repeatedly move between communication and scheduling tasks. The practice needed a better workflow, not another checklist.
What changed
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly communication workload | 7.1 hours | 4.1 hours |
| Follow-up completion rate | 68% | 89% |
| Unresolved patient requests | 17/week | 7/week |
| Calls requiring repeat attempts | 24/week | 14/week |
| Digital patient responses | 31% | 57% |
| Online scheduling usage | 22% | 39% |
Reducing Manual Steps Around Patient Communication
Make Follow-Ups Visible
Borna Connect helped staff identify conversations requiring additional action and keep unresolved patient requests visible instead of relying on individual memory.
Shift Conversations Digital
One-to-one SMS gave staff another way to continue appropriate patient communication without depending on repeated outbound calls and successful phone connections.
Expand Patient Access
Patient chat gave patients a convenient digital channel for questions and responses, reducing some of the routine communication pressure on phone-based workflows.
Simplify Appointment Access
Borna Care's online scheduling allowed patients to view available appointment dates and times and manage their scheduling experience more independently.
Borna gave the team a more connected patient communication software workflow without replacing the clinic's existing practice management system.
Together, these changes supported healthcare workflow automation by reducing unnecessary manual coordination around communication. Staff remained involved where patients needed personal attention, while routine workflow became easier to organize.
What the work produced
Less Weekly Communication Work
Follow-Up Completion Rate
Fewer Unresolved Patient Requests
More Digital Patient Responses
“We didn't realize how much time small communication tasks were consuming until our team finally had a clearer way to manage them.”
Rose City Chiropractic did not have one major administrative breakdown. It had dozens of small communication tasks repeatedly competing for staff attention. By bringing follow-up management, SMS, patient chat, and online scheduling into a more connected workflow with Borna, the practice reduced its illustrative weekly communication workload by 42% within 90 days. The result was not replacing the front desk. It was giving the team more time for patient interactions where human attention mattered most.
Frequently asked questions
Disclaimer: The clinic, doctor, location-specific details, and performance figures in this case study are hypothetical and illustrative, created to demonstrate a realistic healthcare workflow while respecting client confidentiality.