Content about Human Resources

For any small business, including medical offices, the decision about when it’s appropriate to hire additional staff can be a perplexing one. On the one hand, more staff tends to suggest increased opportunities to get things done, or to positively impact service. On the other hand, particularly in service-oriented industries like healthcare, more staff means higher costs of service. Finding the right balance can be tricky and the “right” decisions are often counter-intuitive.

While the use of clinical interns is commonplace in medical practices, many may not be taking advantage of other, non-clinical, opportunities to use interns as a source of staffing to help drive productivity. Universities, technical colleges – and even high schools – can be good sources of energetic, enthusiastic and low-cost/no-cost assistance for medical practices. For medical practices, internships provide two key benefits: access to a pool of talent that can bring enthusiasm and fresh perspectives at low cost and on a temporary basis and a link to the academic community and the opportunity to support student learning.

In the business environment, as in life, you may like some people better than others. In your personal life, being nice to and doing favors for those with whom you get along makes perfect sense, but the rules are different at work, where you must treat employees equally and fairly. You may not want to give some employees as many perks, atta-boys or rewards as others – even if they are deserved – and you may not want to discipline an employee you truly like, but if you play favorites, your staff will notice. And it could hurt you and your practice.

Physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) are increasingly commonplace in medical practices across the nation. Practices that employ these professionals, known as physician extenders for their ability to reduce pressure on physicians and extend quality patient care, have seen their revenues increase, along with patient satisfaction. As practices adapt to healthcare reform, they should ask themselves, “Is there a place for PAs and NPs in my practice”? Here, MOT helps you answer that question.

When staff members in any work environment don’t see eye to eye, it can be an upsetting situation for them, for other co-workers and for anyone who enters the business. Even when no negative words or actions are performed by either party, disharmony can be “felt” – pent-up bad feelings can be sensed by others and can make them uncomfortable, as in the phrase, “you could cut the tension with a knife.” In a medical office, employee wars can be downright deadly, particularly if they distract the feuding employees or their co-workers from performing tasks accurately. Here, MOT delves into common causes for employee conflict and how to handle it with aplomb.
 

Remaining educated is just as crucial for medical office staff as it is for healthcare providers. Advances in healthcare seemingly happen at lightning speed, so it’s crucial to keep staff members’ skill sets current. Even though training staff in a field that’s already time- and money-crunched can be a challenge, it’s still a worthwhile and important endeavor. What type of staff training is important and how can practices achieve this training? Read on for some expert advice on the type of training your staff needs now.

When you read the title of this article, did you have frightening visions of employees wearing lampshades on their heads or yawning with boredom? These are the two extremes of bad office parties. The good news is, you don’t have to get stuck in either extreme. Your medical office can have wonderful holiday office parties where everyone enjoys themselves – but not too much.

Shadow coaching, also known as observational coaching, is finding its way into medical practices and other healthcare organizations as patient satisfaction becomes more important. This type of coaching, where an expert “shadows” a professional to observe interactions with clients and colleagues, is common in corporate America, but somewhat new to healthcare. While many healthcare professionals mistakenly believe that shadow coaching is appropriate only when there’s something wrong in their organizations, coaching experts contend that shadow coaching is useful in helping medical practices excel and grow their business.

Does Halloween seem to hit your office at times of the year other than the month of October? Have you had staff members morph from perfectly productive employees into witches and warlocks, performing poorly and becoming essentially unrecognizable from their former cheerful and efficient selves? October or not, you shouldn’t accept this unwelcome metamorphosis as inevitable, and you should not let it go unchecked.

With fewer people in the workforce, employers of all stripes are looking for ways to keep their often-overworked employees motivated and therefore productive. Many companies believe formal motivation programs are useful tools to keep staff members eager to do their best. But do these programs have merit, and are they of value in a medical practice?

In the time-travel blockbuster Back to the Future, Michael J. Fox’s character accidently is sent back in time and goes up against his father’s high school nemesis, a big bully named Biff. While the movie is fantasy, bullies like Biff are an unfortunate reality. Sadly, recent research indicates that bullying in the workplace is increasing. And, since bullying leads to lost productivity, low employee morale and workplace mistakes, it can literally have life or death ramifications in a healthcare environment.

When it comes to personal and home-related emergencies, you know exactly, without a doubt, the people you can call on to help and the right companies to contact to take care of your problems. Their numbers might even be posted on your refrigerator and saved in your phone’s memory. Unfortunately, most medical practices haven’t taken the time to think about who they can rely on if something goes wrong. In honor of National Preparedness Month (who knew, right?), MOT identifies 10 people and/or companies your practice should have on speed dial.