Part 2 of 2
Improving the efficiency at your practice will not only make the day flow more smoothly. But will also help to avoid any problems that could arise. This article continues the discussion on ways to promote consistency in the daily operations of your practice.
Staff meetings should also take place periodically.
This provides a structured forum to refine day-to-day operations. As well as serve as a gathering ground for input from team members as to further enhancements and improvements that can be made. When more than one provider is present in an office, it is encouraged that input be gathered from all providers and used to generate a staff meeting agenda. Items on the agenda should be presented in a constructive fashion. With clear objectives and a plan for following up in subsequent meetings should be defined. It’s important that all suggestions gathered from the staff be presented in a constructive fashion. Rather than permitting a “blame game” to occur. What works well for some offices is to first complement something that is going well and then make a constructive suggestion.
In each meeting, it’s important to emphasize the overall goal of the practice is to provide quality patient care and reinforce how each and every individual present in the meeting needs to have vested interest in accomplishing that goal.
Lastly, physicians should be consistent in their clinical practice hours. And the time that they are available to provide patient care. Obviously, everybody has issues that arise and emergencies do come up from time to time. But physicians should set an example and serve as role models to their staff by demonstrating that they are reliable, consistent, and present to provide patient care. In addition, it’s important to recognize seasonal patterns in the practice. And if possible plan time away from the office in downtimes or slower periods. In northern climates, the departure of snowbirds often equates to relatively calmer schedules from January through March. This is a perfect time for clinicians to attend conferences and take vacations. The same is true for staff and should be promoted with respect to them.
In summary,
clinicians both new and established can help to increase their office efficiency and overall satisfaction with the practice by providing staff with defined structure. Providing an employee manual, maintaining a folder of original documents, holding regular office staff meetings, and planning time away from the office during downtimes are all examples of structure. That one once introduced into the office will result in increasing overall patient care. As well as general office efficiency and staff satisfaction.
