Log every tech problem so it gets fixed, not worked around

The situation

Small tech problems rarely get reported. They get mentioned, the printer is acting up again or the portal logged someone out twice today, and then worked around, because there is usually a way to keep moving. A mention to a coworker is not a report to someone who can fix it.

Worked-around problems do not go away. A slow EHR, a fax machine you sometimes have to restart, a portal that glitches once a week: none feels worth stopping for, but together they cost the team time every day. With no record, nobody can see that today's complaint is the same as last week's.

Steps

1. Log it when you notice it Create a Task that says what is affected and how disruptive it is, with a clinic Tag such as IT and the affected system named in the title. Assign it to the one person who owns tech follow-up, and select Mark as urgent only when it is blocking work right now.
2. Add repeats to the first report Before you log a problem, filter Tasks by the IT Tag with Status set to All to see whether it is already there. If it is, add a comment with today's date instead of a new Task, and reopen it if it was Done. Five comments on one Task show a pattern that five passing mentions never would.
3. Let one owner follow up The owner contacts the vendor or IT support, or fixes it in-house, and sets the Task to Waiting while a reply is pending. Updates go in Comments, so whoever reported it can see where it stands.
4. Close it with what fixed it Write the fix in a comment, then set the Task to Done. The next time the problem appears, filter by the IT Tag with Status set to Done to find the answer instead of working it out again.
5. Review the list every month Give the practice manager a Task with Repeat set to Monthly to look over the IT Tag's open and Done Tasks. Patterns show what is worth a bigger fix, such as replacing a piece of equipment or switching vendors.

The outcome

Every tech problem has a record and an owner, repeats show up as patterns worth fixing, and the fix is written down for next time. The small daily workarounds become visible problems you can actually address.