Not sure about delegating tasks?
Start by asking yourself...What tasks can I delegate? Not everything can (or should) be delegated. Carefully select those jobs that can be quickly taught and which you are personally comfortable letting go of. Once staff has become more confident and can prove to you that they are able to handle lesser tasks, move on to bigger ones. Eventually, based on their level of proficiency, you'll want to delegate specific tasks that allow you both to generate revenue simultaneously, e.g. while you are giving an injection, they can be taking an orthotic foot impression or apply and instructing a patient in night splint wear. Proper delegation is more than just assigning work to someone else. It's not only letting go of a task; it's also transferring the decision-making responsibilities along with it. It's about empowering and trusting people..Delegation is NOT passing things on because you don't want to do them, they are too difficult or too boring!
What tickles YOUR funny bone?
- We deal with stress every day - some good some bad. Even in the most difficult of times, things get SO absurd that they are actually funny. I can think of a time when my SOS partner and I were under the gun to get copies made for a presentation we were giving. Naturally, it was last minute, so the pressure was on. It was late. We were tired and so we went to the nearest copy center to see about getting our handouts made. Luckily they had a new copy machine that collated many pages together and its purpose was to make things simpler for us. Well, we were getting the job done when all of a sudden, it started speeding up and before we could say Kinko....paper was flying all over the place. It was like a page out of I Love Lucy. We laughed so hard we cried. We got it together and got our copies made...but it's those kinds of things that help release endorphins and make you think...are things
REALLY
that bad?
Cut Staff? - Is this a concept you've considered in this time of economic frailty?Is cutting staff your first knee-jerk answer to reducing your overhead? If you want to work SMART...that is, reduce doctor's time with patients, so that the practice can see more patients and increase practice revenue without compromising comprehensiveness....and do these without burning out or spending every waking hour at the office...consider an alternative option! Taking the time to train, develop and integrate your staff more effectively into your treatment protocols can result in improved efficiency and financial rewards. Increasing their role and utilizing them in the most productive way possible is a plus for everyone - the practice, the doctor, the patient and your staff. What are you waiting for? For training opportunities available to you...see our Podiatric Office Training Workshop .
Who's Running the Show? - "Why is it ok for some employees to come in late, while others get reprimanded?" "Do we or don't we get paid for holidays?" "How many weeks vacation am I entitled to?" "There is no standard of conduct in this office. People do whatever they want and no one ever says anything to them!" These are just some of the complaints I hear when I go into an office that does not have an employee manual. Or they HAVE one, but it's sitting on the shelf and hasn't been opened in years. An employee manual serves as a rulebook; so without it, how do you run your practice? Clarify expectations, create uniformity and fairness, reduce confusion, set policy and disciplinary action and get all the members of your team on the same page. The time to get started is now!
Start on Time! -Did you know that starting late is the single greatest cause of running behind? If your first patient is scheduled at 8:30am, then you need to arrive before then, allow yourself the time to do what you have to do before beginning your day and be ready BEFORE that patient comes in. By the same token, the staff needs to know that their first patients NEED to be checking in and set up in a treatment room preferably before 8:30am or the schedule is already compromised. When staff schedules first appointments, they need to make it clear (and be firm but polite) with their patinets that having a first appointment means arriving at least 10-15 minutes ahead of their scheduled time.
How do you determine what to pay staff? Pay should be based on these criteria:
- The philosophy of the practice - for example, is the philosophy such that the practice desires to attract a more qualified individual and therefore is willing to pay more than the current indicators or are they satisfied with paying little and expecting little in return
- The health and performance of the practice - is it stable or barely surviving?
- Based on the current market indicators in podiatry and/or general healthcare (I recently conducted a national survey within podiatry and determined average benchmarks based on the responses I received for podiatric medical assistants, receptionists and office managers. They were posted in the Sept. issue of PM Magazine)
- Based on the current economic indicators
-
Job assessment - a determined salary should be attached to the type of job based on what the job requires of the individual; how much accountability are they given; how much skill, experience and decision making is required, etc.
Be Prepared - If there's never been a time in your office where you've had to deal with a medical emergency, you are lucky. But what if that changes tomorrow? Will you be prepared? Whether you face a case of syncope, a Diabetic insulin reaction, anaphylaxis, seizures or cardiac arrest, your team should develop an emergency plan describing how to handle each situation. Here are some basic drills:
- List and have handy some important phone numbers so all personnel can get them quickly
- In the event of an emergency, each staff person should be assigned specific duties. No one should have to ask, "what should I do?"
- All emergency supplies should be kept in the same area. This is so no lost time occurs during a crisis.
- Certify yourself in CPR. All office staff should work towards certification and this should be encouraged and supported by the doctor.
- Frequent drill enactments of all types of medical office emergencies should be practiced.
Finally, be professional at all times!
Hiring Tool: Engage them in conversation - you can learn so much about your applicant by just talking with them or saying "Tell me a little about yourself." Don't dominate the dialogue. Ask questions, pay attention, listen; observe their tone of voice, facial expressions, smiles, eye contact, gestures, enthusiasm, and attentiveness. Look for behavioral and customer service traits such as EI (Emotional Intelligence), concern and common courtesies. Instead of asking them, "how would you handle...?", role play a particular situation with them. This allows you to see them in a reactionary setting as well as their ability to problem solve and will give you a sense of how your patients will respond to them.
Internal Practice Processes and Protocols - How efficient are your operating processes? In other words, are policies and procedures well-written, understood and well managed so that individual staff productivity is maximized?You can have more than enough bodies to do the work, but if systems are not put in place to direct them, your efficiency will suffer. Likewise, if you've effectively used the talents of all your employees, your systems are excellent and things still aren't getting done in a timely manner, there are likely missed opportunities that could be tended to by hiring more staff.
Staff Incentive bonuses
I've seen a number of different things
work
in some offices and totally
fail
in others. That's because we are dealing with people; individuals who are motivated by different things. I have seen a "percentage of total sales" bonus across the board divided amongst the staff work well; however if not everyone is making an equal effort, equal distribution may lead to resentment by those who are far more aggressive in their methods. If this is the case, perhaps keeping the % bonus distribution in place would encourage everyone to participate, but consider also offering a $50 or $100 gift certificate as an added incentive to whoever dispenses the most product. It may spur a "competition" factor which actually boosts the promotion of products while giving those who extend themselves that added bonus. The idea is to try a couple different things...nothing says you have to stick with one plan...if it doesn't work, try something else. Involve the staff in creating a plan. Ask them what would work for them...how do THEY see an incentive plan working?
Keep in mind, above
all
, dispensing quality product should not JUST be about the competition or the "selling"; it should first and foremost revolve around the recommended product being BENEFICIAL to the patient. Distribution of product just for the sake of dispensing is not suggested, recommended or ethical.
Maximize Your Website!
Do your new patients present with their paperwork completed and ready to go? If not, re-think your process. Welcome to the world of the net-informed patient. If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing them in your office yet, you soon will. They are a growing population. The national benchmark for completing new patient paperwork is 14 minutes. So, if a practice that sees 4 new patients a day can shave 14+ minutes off each one of those visits, they can potentially gain almost another whole hour in their day. If you ask your new patients..."Can you go to our website to download a form?" don't be surprised if they will take the easy way out and say "no." The better approach may be, "Mrs. Jones, we will NEED you to go to our website..." If they do not have internet access, let them tell you; don't assume. When patients complete their paperwork at home, it allows you to obtain a better patient history; their medications and their doctor's phone # (and other numbers) are accessible and for the elderly, they have a family member who can help them fill the form out. It is extremely inefficient to have a new patient present with unfinished paperwork and should be avoided at all costs! (By the way, those who claim to have a highly saturated Medicare practice with few "interneters" are underestimating the elderly. People over 65 make up 30% of the internet masses!)
Awareness
Sam overheard a young baseball player say to his teammate (with the coach in ear distance), "Coach only sees what he wants to...he only sees the times I miss the ball!" The coach turned to his player and assured him that coaches do see everything! "Then why, Coach, do I only hear it when I do something bad, or really good. What about all the stuff I contribute on a regular basis that helped to make this team the best in our league? Don't you ever notice those everyday things?" The coach still argued that he saw everything, but shamefully admitted that sometimes, the "expected" things are just taken for granted. From that point on....he became more aware and recognized his players, even at the "un"expected times.
This same conversation could have easily taken place between a doctor and staff. How many assistants wonder if their doctor is aware of all that goes on around them, and (like the ball player)...just comments on the things that go wrong? As managers, you need to be aware of things your staff does. In fact, do a check on yourself and see if you notice new things that you didn't before. One tip: If you do happen to notice more than you did before....let them know it. I can assure you, they will appreciate the acknowledgment.
Staff Turnover?...What's the Reason?
"What do they WANT from me?" It's a question I've heard doctors ask again and again when faced with their own increasing staff turnover and yet I'm not really sure they are willing or know HOW to take the necessary steps towards the proper resolve. If they take the proper steps, they could actually provide a new vision of hope for their future employee dynamics. The fact is, in an office with frequent turnover, it is not unrealistic to conclude that the manager/doctor plays an important role in the REASON why staff does not stay. In fact, author Stephen Robbins supports this claim. "If employees aren't motivated, the fault is with managers and organizational practices, not the employees!" In his book, The truth about Managing People, he relates a personal experience regarding two medical offices within only a few miles of each other. One doctor blames the source of most of their problems on his staff saying they weren't motivated, not dependable, made stupid mistakes, just didn't care AND he couldn't find anyone in his area that was any better. The other doctor couldn't brag enough about his staff, insisting that they were the source of strength of his practice and how they cared about it as much as he did. As Mr. Robbins pointed out in his story, the difference was NOT in the people they hired; it was how they managed their offices.
Quality Customer Service
Q: We feel we give our patients excellent customer service and yet, we still have to deal with their complaints....mostly at the front desk. How do we respond to patients who claim "This is the ONLY office that makes me pay a co-pay up front!?" or "I NEVER have to pay anything at my other doctor's offices!"
A; Unfortunately, those staff sitting in that "hot seat" that is... whose responsibility it is to collect the "oh so (censored) co-pay" have an unfair reputation of being the "bad guy." My favorite complaint always was.... "My insurance did not pay for my last visit and when I called my insurance company, they said you listed the wrong code on my claim. Fix it so the doctor can get his money." How do you respond without taking it personally....getting defensive...fighting back? And as if that wasn't enough, after taking the time to try to explain to this patient that your coding was justified according to the treatment they received, they walk away and complain all over again to the doctor (or any other staff person who will listen)...as if your response didn't even count!
Much as you may want to, the success in reaching these patients is NOT to let off steam OR blow them off for that matter, but rather respond to them in an intelligent, caring way that will serve to educate them as well. In most instances (including the coding scenario above) the best strategy of all is a PRO active one. Making sure your patients understand the billing policies of the practice BEFORE they receive a denial from their insurance company may help having to try to fix it after-wards.
Resolving Conflict Utilizing Interest-based Negotiation
If you are truly committed to resolving a conflict, you must start by identifying the interests of the other party. How do you accomplish this? Through empathic listening you can begin to identify needs. This involves active listening (not talking) and trying to "feel" what the other person feels like. With this type of listening, emotions such as frustration, anger, fear of loss of control, etc. can be identified by the patient's choice of words. These emotions must then be acknowledged. A person's feelings are acknowledged when you are able to accurately paraphrase them back to the patient. A paraphrase given to a person who is frustrated might be " I know how frustrated this makes you feel; it drives me crazy as well when an insurance company doesn't pay my doctors." Paraphrasing opens the gates of communication since the patient now feels that they have been acknowledged and that you understand their concerns.
Manage With Compassion
In medical practices compassion should not be too hard to come by. Doctors are healers by definition and providing compassionate care is the product that is sold in their offices. Managing staff with that same degree of compassion is not always a "given". Frequently we forget about the "people" who we employ. Effective leaders will be very mindful of the emotional needs of all team members. If your staff truly believes that you care about them as people, they will frequently perform their tasks well beyond the minimum standards that have been established for them. Staff caring about the "big picture" is often the result of a boss caring about the non-work related aspects of employee's lives.
Motivating Staff
What will motivate my staff to work better? Tough question because what motivates one individual may not necessarily motivate another; therefore to suggest one blanket solution (or two or three) may not be worth a dime to you. Take the mystery out of the question. If you want to know what motivates your staff....just talk to them! Get to know them. Ask them about their interests. Don't guess that they may want tickets to a local pro ballgame only to find out they don't enjoy sports. Consider conducting a staff "stay survey" and find out what works for them and what doesn't. For example, a survey question might be, "Do you have fun at work?" "If not, what would you suggest we do to bring more fun into our workplace?" If you have good employees, do what you can (within reason) to not only keep them...but keep them happy! A happy staff is a productive staff.
