Changing from Being a Worker to a Leader

Congratulations, you were recently promoted, now what? Changing from a worker to a leader can be exciting, but also daunting. You feel the pressure of performance, not only of yourself but of the others as well. You are now expected to do your work and monitor the others as well. That can be scary, understanding that you are now responsible for what other people do. If they do well, then it reflects well on you. When they mess up, you are expected to fix the problem and deal with the consequences. That can be a problem; you will wonder how you are supposed to get everything done in the day? You could give up eating and sleeping-or you could learn another part of your new job-delegation.

Delegation can be an especially difficult thing for most managers to do. You feel that the staff cannot handle something or feel you are responsible. Ask yourself, why can’t they handle it? If it is something confidential or due to regulations they cannot handle it, but otherwise you would be surprised what they can handle.

One new manager was so afraid to let go of things that she would work 70+ hours per week! She had no personal life at all. Her kids were in trouble with the law and struggling in school. She was depressed and anxious all of the time. After we discussed this issue many times she was finally able to let go of a few things. It was very difficult for her to do that and she struggled with it for a long time. She was so obsessed with how she wanted everything done that she would even tell someone how to put the statements in the envelope, speaking to them as if they were a small child. This was a true problem, all of her staff felt that she didn’t trust them at all, which she probably didn’t. This affected staff moral and their dedication to the company. It is not uncommon that when one person is moved from a worker to a manager position that there are problems, but when all of the staff leaves in just a few months it is a sign that maybe we need to work on the manager.

Some people make the transition to manager smoothly never missing a beat; however most of us need a little help to get on the right track. One of the first things you can do is to find someone that you respect and emulate their behavior. For some reason you respected that person. Why, what do they do that is so special? Make a list of traits that you like about them and then starting thinking about how you can do what they do. This can help give you an idea of what you should probably be doing. That and studying different views on the subject can give you ideas of what type of leader that you want to be and what you need to become to do the job. I suggest studying many different books and take as many classes on the subject that you can. You will find many variations on the theme, find what works for you.

Taken in part from PMSA’s New Manager

Leadership and Teamwork

Sometimes we can learn so much about leadership and teamwork from the way we play a game. Often in our society we focus so much on winning and getting ahead that we lose sight of what is really important in life-each other. In healthcare we often talk about team approaches and working together, but in reality that real team is often what is missing in a practice. Though we do have to think about the bottom-line, healthcare regulations, staffing issues and the list is endless; ask yourself at the end of the day, did we make a difference? Did we really help someone and make their life a little easier?

Over the many years of being in healthcare, we can easily lose focus of why we entered the field to begin with-helping others. In healthcare we really are our brother’s (or sister’s) keeper. While working towards building your team, remind everyone to keep sight of what is really important and what is probably part of your mission or vision statement-serving others.

As a leader in your organization you often set the tone on the team, what type of tone are you setting? Do you set one of focusing on the concept of serving others as a team? What is your focus? Is it of improving the balance sheet or of overall improvement? Sometimes we can learn from a game on what is really important.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKUaLlK776s.

Influenza Phone Triage

I know that you have probably been overwhelmed with influenza tips and suggestions, but someone sent us a link to a telephone triage that we thought we would share. The triage is through the American Academy of Family Physicians and many of our members have found it helpful. We have also attached a few others that members have recommended recently.
http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/journals/afp/preprint/influenza-telephone-triage.html
The CDC’s triage can be located at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/clinicians/pdf/adultalgorithm.pdf
Suggested example for employers
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/hr/hrdepts/ehs/Forms/employees_influ_tri_final.doc
Self triage from Carleton College
http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/flu/flu_reports/student_report/self_triage/
Self triage from Monterey County Health Department
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/inc/pr/20090827/Self_Triage_influzena.pdf

Passion for what you do

Everyone at some time or other has had a job that they hated. Many of us are lucky enough to have a position sometime that we love. Whether you hate your job or love it, right now you probably need it and in every job there is something that you probably enjoy. Maybe you hate the drudgery of cleaning exam tables/equipment or doing the paperwork. Yet each of these tasks is very important to the overall job and service that you and your company provide. Right now there has been a lot of focus on the importance of cleaning equipment/doors/chairs or whatever due to the flu. Everyone understands how important that is to all of us.

How important is the paperwork? Very important for many reasons including patient safety and billing. If the paperwork is done incorrectly it could mean that the patient receives improper care and could even put them at risk. Paperwork can also affect the billing and with delayed payments or missed payments this can affect the practice’s revenue. If the revenue is decreased can the practice continue to support everyone? This can and will eventually affect all of the practice staff including providers, clinical and administrative staff.

The key is that every job has aspects of it that are important and can be enjoyable and “make a difference”. Finding these parts of a job can make all the difference. When you find something that makes you passionate about your job and focus on it. It will make your day go by faster and others see the passion in your work. When you are passionate about something appear more focused and it usually appears that you are knowledgeable and a professional and in a tough job market that has to help!

Differences in Medical Assistants

In the past we have discussed how staff should be cross-trained and encourage to do more and continue to grow. We have also mentioned that what a staff member is allowed to do varies from state to state and you should always check with your medical association/Board to determine what can be done in your area. Recently, this table was shared with us on the breakdown of what Medical Assistants can do in each state. We have not verified the information and suggest that it be used for information only and as a starting place for gathering your own information. It does however, illustrate the vast differences in what staff is able to do in different states (please check your state’s requirements by contacting your Boards/Medical Association before using as a guide in the practice for hiring or staff duties). During the discussion of healthcare reforms, many have suggested that just there is a need to have a set of formal requirements (certifications) in place for all practice staff. Others argue that this would limit who the practice could hire and in many cases would require the practice to hire staff that would affect their bottom-line. While we do not suggest one idea is better than another, we do believe it is helpful to have as much information as possible while engaging in reform discussions. Both arguments have merit and in some cases the absence or presence of a certification does not guarantee professionalism or competence. That is one of the reasons PMSA was developed to address staff weaknesses and help fill in the gaps of knowledge or training. In healthcare reform there are no easy answers and unfortunately the reform process will be a long one. Healthcare reform can happen on many levels including at the practice level and national level. By maximizing your staff’s potential this will allow maximizing the practice. The staff and the practice should be evaluated to determine what is right for your situation based upon regulations and capabilities. Scope of practice for Medical Assistants table can be found at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/12388436/Medical-Assistants-Scope-of-Practice