A new business was opening and one of the owner's friends wanted to send flowers for the occasion.
They arrived at the new business site and the owner read the card.
It said "Rest in Peace".
The owner was angry and called the florist to complain. After he had told the florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was,
The florist said:
"Sir, I'm really sorry for the mistake, but rather than getting angry you should imagine this: somewhere there is a funeral taking place today, and they have flowers with a note saying 'Congratulations on your new location'."
While funny, it does bring to light the issue of good customer service and what affects mistakes can have on your customers/patients and the need to diffuse a situation. Staff often has a hard time understanding how customer service is applied to the medical practice. It is a manager’s job to help them understand that they are representing the practice. To the patient-they are the practice.
Often we forget that the patient or customer has a choice, they can go elsewhere. In the medical practice that is still true and you may say that you are the only practice in your community town-that just means they will drive a long ways to go to a doctor or not go to anyone. That is not helping the patients or the practice. Customer service or patient service is a key component to the medical patient and is everyone’s responsibility. However, it falls heavily on the front desk staff. They often the have contact with the patient or have an opportunity to make a lasting impression. They are the first and the last person that the patient sees during a visit and can be the only contact on the phone or via e-mail. Remind them that how they treat the patient and their family will go a long way in helping the patient being satisfied with their visit and want to keep using the practice. By keeping satisfied returning patients this in turns help to assure that the practice will need staff and their job. If there are no patients coming in, why does the practice need a front desk person or any staff?
Take the time to assess your practice’s customer service and see if improvements can be made. Consider taking customer service training. There are countless books, DVDs, videos, conference, etc on customer service and many are either developed for the medical practice or might work. A free one can be found at http://tinyurl.com/m37evp
Friday, March 12, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Fortune Cookie
Today I had a fortune cookie had the following: “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” At first I dismissed the cookie without any further thought on it and later in the day I started thinking about the economy and healthcare in this country. Winter is often thought of as the dead or dominate season, when nothing is blooming. For many it can be a depressive and gloomy time. I would say that we are currently in the winter phase here in this country.
To everything there is a season and I believe that eventually things will turn around. Will all of the political leaders ever agree upon anything, probably not. I have known many hospital staff members say that if you gave 5 cardiologists the same rhythm strip, that you would get 5 very different diagnoses. This seems to be true in healthcare reform as well. Everyone has a different idea on how to correct our problems. It is often hard to say that any one plan is better than the other (they all have some good and some bad). However, most of us got in healthcare to help people and not because we thought we would get rich, but making a decent living would be nice!
I have had the opportunity to listen to several physicians that have been in Haiti helping the victims. They have all discussed how thankful these people have been to them and how much they appreciate even the simplest care. Often here in America we forget how good we really do have it. While I would like to see things be better than they are, we still have people that are willing to give their best and care for our sick. We usually have access to some form of treatment. It may not always be all that we need, but they are clinics and services available, while in other countries there are few services. Could there be more and could be make care more accessible here? Of course and we should have it more accessible and affordable. But the point is that we do have healthcare and I believe that eventually the spring will come and things will get better in this country. I plan to keep looking for the first shoots of spring.
To everything there is a season and I believe that eventually things will turn around. Will all of the political leaders ever agree upon anything, probably not. I have known many hospital staff members say that if you gave 5 cardiologists the same rhythm strip, that you would get 5 very different diagnoses. This seems to be true in healthcare reform as well. Everyone has a different idea on how to correct our problems. It is often hard to say that any one plan is better than the other (they all have some good and some bad). However, most of us got in healthcare to help people and not because we thought we would get rich, but making a decent living would be nice!
I have had the opportunity to listen to several physicians that have been in Haiti helping the victims. They have all discussed how thankful these people have been to them and how much they appreciate even the simplest care. Often here in America we forget how good we really do have it. While I would like to see things be better than they are, we still have people that are willing to give their best and care for our sick. We usually have access to some form of treatment. It may not always be all that we need, but they are clinics and services available, while in other countries there are few services. Could there be more and could be make care more accessible here? Of course and we should have it more accessible and affordable. But the point is that we do have healthcare and I believe that eventually the spring will come and things will get better in this country. I plan to keep looking for the first shoots of spring.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Do you resent your employees?
Recently, I overheard a couple of physicians discussing their managers and staff. One of the physicians complained that his manager after 15 years of making a “really good wage) of $35,000 was thinking of leaving. He couldn’t believe that she thought she might do better elsewhere. The other physician pointed out that the national average is around $50,000 and that his manager not only works as a manager, but is a certified medical assistant and does the billing. The first physician could not get over the resentment that his manager would consider leaving, but this made me wonder of there is not an even bigger problem lurking in this practice.
It is not uncommon to hear physicians and managers complain about their staff and how many view it as a “job and not a career.” Many are resentful of staff that leaves to find better wages. While some staff do consider it a job and in many cases it is because they are not encouraged to do anything more, other do consider it a career. Staff that is shown appreciation will feel that they are valued and this can translate into the felling of their work as a career. How do you show your staff that you appreciate them? Maybe you don’t actually resent them, but do they know that you do appreciate them? Do you show them? Do you encourage them to take their job seriously and that they are valued? How can they think of it as more than just a job, if their work isn’t valued? What difference does it make to you or the practice if they don’t do a good job as long as they do something and just make an effort?
Times are tough and many staff may need higher wages. Daycare costs can take a large percentage of their pay. Rent and daily living costs are also rising. Could you live on what you pay your staff? That doesn’t mean they should earn as much as you do, but that you should take into consideration that not only are times tough for you, but for your staff as well. They do not have the education or skills that you do and the providers are the ones that brings the most (if not all in many cases) revenue to the practice for that reason alone, you should be making a lot more. Your staff might be resenting what you make as well. Staff usually does not know or understand all of the overhead costs that you have and what it is you actually take home. They only see that you drive a better car than they do and live in a different neighborhood. They have no idea what you have had to sacrifice to get where you are and how hard it is to remain there.
You can’t always pay staff more, but you can show that that you do appreciate them. Think about what they do for you. Could you do all of the billing, handling patient’s problems such as refills, prior authorizations, and all of the many other tasks in a day? Could you do all of what they do and still see your current patient load? Only if you have a low patient load. Be honest with staff that due to tough times you may not be able to increase their salaries, but find other ways to show you appreciate them. Try thanking them for their work. Maybe you could pay for lunch, buy movie cards for extra work done, or treat then to a massage. There are many ways to say thank you and often that is what they really are looking for from you. Of course they could use more money, couldn’t we all? But most of the time they just want to be appreciated.
It is not uncommon to hear physicians and managers complain about their staff and how many view it as a “job and not a career.” Many are resentful of staff that leaves to find better wages. While some staff do consider it a job and in many cases it is because they are not encouraged to do anything more, other do consider it a career. Staff that is shown appreciation will feel that they are valued and this can translate into the felling of their work as a career. How do you show your staff that you appreciate them? Maybe you don’t actually resent them, but do they know that you do appreciate them? Do you show them? Do you encourage them to take their job seriously and that they are valued? How can they think of it as more than just a job, if their work isn’t valued? What difference does it make to you or the practice if they don’t do a good job as long as they do something and just make an effort?
Times are tough and many staff may need higher wages. Daycare costs can take a large percentage of their pay. Rent and daily living costs are also rising. Could you live on what you pay your staff? That doesn’t mean they should earn as much as you do, but that you should take into consideration that not only are times tough for you, but for your staff as well. They do not have the education or skills that you do and the providers are the ones that brings the most (if not all in many cases) revenue to the practice for that reason alone, you should be making a lot more. Your staff might be resenting what you make as well. Staff usually does not know or understand all of the overhead costs that you have and what it is you actually take home. They only see that you drive a better car than they do and live in a different neighborhood. They have no idea what you have had to sacrifice to get where you are and how hard it is to remain there.
You can’t always pay staff more, but you can show that that you do appreciate them. Think about what they do for you. Could you do all of the billing, handling patient’s problems such as refills, prior authorizations, and all of the many other tasks in a day? Could you do all of what they do and still see your current patient load? Only if you have a low patient load. Be honest with staff that due to tough times you may not be able to increase their salaries, but find other ways to show you appreciate them. Try thanking them for their work. Maybe you could pay for lunch, buy movie cards for extra work done, or treat then to a massage. There are many ways to say thank you and often that is what they really are looking for from you. Of course they could use more money, couldn’t we all? But most of the time they just want to be appreciated.
Monday, January 4, 2010
2010
With a new year ahead of us, it always makes me wonder what the year will bring. This time last year, could we have guessed that legislation affecting medical practices would go the route that they have recently? It really makes you wonder what changes this year will bring and how we will have to adapt to meet these new challenges.
Facing the unknown and adapting to the challenges in healthcare requires a strong leadership basis to be successful. How are your leadership skills? Maybe this is the year to consider taking new courses and broaden your knowledge base, or maybe it is time to obtain additional certification/education. Whatever path you decide this would be a good time to plan out how you can develop new leadership skills and enhance your leadership style. There are many free courses, articles, and other resources as well as many cost-effective ones. Whatever you choose, why not make leadership enhance as part of your new year’s plan of action?
Facing the unknown and adapting to the challenges in healthcare requires a strong leadership basis to be successful. How are your leadership skills? Maybe this is the year to consider taking new courses and broaden your knowledge base, or maybe it is time to obtain additional certification/education. Whatever path you decide this would be a good time to plan out how you can develop new leadership skills and enhance your leadership style. There are many free courses, articles, and other resources as well as many cost-effective ones. Whatever you choose, why not make leadership enhance as part of your new year’s plan of action?
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