Investment in Training Yields Pots of Gold

One of the biggest impediments to progress and momentum in a practice is that we are so BUSY with patients that there is little time left to work on the practice – to train team members and work on basic administrative tasks. A big disconnect in many offices is the thought that administrative work and training can be wedged in between patients or during lunch. This isn’t true. Invariably, patient flow overrides good intentions. It is important to actually schedule time for administrative work and training if you want to keep your office current and on top of changes that could affect cash flow.

KMC University strongly recommends that you set aside a specific amount of time for the training and implementation of important compliance issues and for installing or updating reimbursement systems that support payments—they won’t take care of themselves. Ask yourself the following questions to see if your office has drifted into ineffective and inefficient routines:

  • Do team members have at least one hour a week to train on the assigned KMC University curriculum?
  • Is there time, daily or weekly, outside of patient hours, to complete administrative work for each department?
  • Do team members have individual, 10-minute stand-up meetings with the doctor each week?
  • Does the doctor have time each day to do the administrative work for new patients and conditions and to update documentation?
  • Does the doctor have weekly time to work with the financial department on reports and other payment data?
  • Does the front desk team have time each week to work on short- and long-term missing-patient recalls?
  • Does the insurance team have a regular time each week to proactively and reactively make follow-up calls?
  • Does the doctor take time each month to work on internal and external marketing?

While this list is not all-inclusive, it should help you stop and consider all of the daily and weekly tasks in the practice that are not directly related to patient care. If you do not assign regular, non-patient hours to these duties, you will always feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day and you will fall further and further behind. While additional team members might help initially, they can’t resolve the root problem. Operating more efficiently and effectively during working hours can make a big difference without a need to increase staff. Here are some tips to make the most of your administrative and training time:

    1. Set aside a minimum of one hour per week for team meetings and use at least 15-30 minutes of that meeting for training, role-playing, going over suggested dialogue, etc. Assign a team member or department head to lead the training at each meeting and to cross-train other team members and the doctor as needed.
    2. Consider consolidating patient hours. If you have open appointment times, think about eliminating an hour of patient time and using it for administrative work instead. During this time, do not answer the phone or the door; instead, concentrate on the tasks at hand without interruption.

In some cases, closing for a half-day or full day may make sense—especially if you have a large practice with an extensive staff. Survey your patients to determine the impact this might have on your practice. Plan ahead to make sure the time is productive and effective. Small investments in time will go a long way in keeping you and your team current with changes to Medicare, local and state rules and regulations, systems, technology, and internal affairs. It also helps make your team feel valued and confident about their roles in the practice. Time management and team training is a solid investment in your clinic.