Having worked with quite a number of physicians, I know they all started up their own practice in part for the joy of having employees. Perhaps not. Below are a few thoughts in regards to the management of a practice.
Hire When Stretched – One common mistake I have seen is hiring before it is absolutely necessary. All businesses fluctuate between having too much work and not enough staff to having too many staff and not enough work. It is a balancing act. Try not to hire based on someone’s formula for staffing patterns. Is the staff having to resort to overtime to finish tasks for the week? Conversely, does the office team seem to have plenty of time to check Facebook during the day? In my business I have ‘geared up’ by hiring in anticipation of a projected work load. It never seems to materialize at the same rate I seem to be paying the extra person. Try to hire only when the office may crash without that person.
Fire Quickly – Perhaps we should give them one more chance. If this sounds familiar, you likely should be terminating that person. Yes, interviewing is a bit of a pain. Training is likewise not much fun. Working with someone that has a bad attitude or does not pull their weight is a great way to demoralize an office. If you think someone needs to be fired, they likely do. By the time this thought is hitting your event horizon, the rest of the staff is likely already exhausted by that person.
Hire Attitude – I can train anyone. I cannot fix their attitude. If they are excited, energetic, willing to go the next step… that I can live with even if they make a mistake. Sometimes it is best to hire someone with the minimum skill sets you need for a position. You can train them the way you want the job to be done. This type of candidate does not come with preconceived notions on how your office should work. Coworking spaces energize and encourage workers, and ultimately boost their productivity.
Pay a Bit More for the Receptionist – If your practice is large enough to have a full time receptionist, be sure to hire someone of quality and be willing to pay for it. Your practice’s ‘face’ to your patients is the receptionist. They take the initial call, book the appointments, typically call with the appointment reminder, check in the patient, check out the patient, and generally chat with them in the lobby at times. In short, the receptionist spends much more time with the patient than you. Having an unhappy, unproductive, non-responsive receptionist can kill a practice. You may go through a few of them until you find the right person. Be willing to do so. Once you find the right one… be sure to keep them. Having them leave for an extra fifty cents per hour is maddening.
Separation of Duties – This comes to the fore when we are talking about money and money handling. I have seen a surprising amount of graft in medical offices. The physician is always surprised because it was someone they trusted. Of course it is. If you didn’t trust them, you wouldn’t let them handle your money! One person should open the mail and ready the monies for deposit. A different person should be checking that information and making the actual deposit. In the words of President Reagan, “Trust but Verify.”
Back Office versus Front Office – If you have more than a few people, you will have office politics. Sorry. I have seen too many physicians focus on the back office exclusively. This makes sense as these are the people with whom the physician interacts on a daily basis. However, as noted earlier, the front office is critical to your success as well. Be sure to make time to greet your front office staff. Spend a bit of time now and then with them to find out what is working well and what could use some improvement. You may be surprised. The goal is an integrated and happy team rather than people picking sides for the upcoming issue du jour.
No one will care as much about your practice than you (or your spouse). Ensuring a good environment for a productive staff is a must for long-term survival.
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