Now that healthcare reform is hitting your practice squarely in the eyes, it is important to realize as a practice administrator or manager the importance of everyone in your medical circle. In other words, now is the time to call upon all resources within and around your practice to promote teamwork for success.  This requires that you become aware of the existing team of resources you have available to you and your practice and utilize them.

 

Your team could involve practice employees, other practice managers and administrators, outside vendors, hospital staff members, and even patients for that matter. Coordinating your team is the collaboration of all members involved in order to bring about effective successful changes and policies within your practice. Knowing how each team member affects your productivity is paramount to your growth and the expected reform.

 

Your team really begins with your employees. It is crucial to the progress of your practice to elicit the support of employees and envision them as members of your practice team. Now is the time to accentuate the positive and keep morale high for the changes to come. Allowing small negative talk to filter through your practice can throw morale into the gutter. Having regularly scheduled meetings with staff will keep them informed of changes and policies affecting them. Emphasize what is working more often in your practice; and strategize together with your team to correct or eliminate those things that are no longer productively serving the practice as a whole.

 

Revisit your internal policies and procedures so that each employee knows the procedures, rules and regulations to follow. If you do not have current policies and procedures then begin creating them so that all procedures are documented and available for reference. You may even request assistance from staff members in writing or revising practice policies.

 

Get involved with organizations that provide support and information relative to physician office management. It is these group affiliations that will provide needed information, social interaction and advice for the very circumstances you may be facing. 

 

There are several national organizations now for practice managers such as POMAA (Physician Office Manager Association of America), and MGMA (Medical Group Management Association), each with local chapters where you can personally be involved and active. Make friends with other practice administrators and offer your help to them as well. Now is the time for collaboration with others in the field. Why would you have to reinvent policy (the wheel) if someone has already done so? Do not let your pride stand in the way. You may find that there is much to be gained by making acquaintances and even friendships with likeminded individuals. 

 

Utilize and benefit from social media sites to stay in touch with trends and changes going on in your line of specialty. Facebook consists of many groups related to practice management that offer daily valuable tips and information that can specifically address your needs. Here are a few of the suggested Facebook groups:  POMAA, MGMA, PMI (Practice Management Institute), Practice Manager Network Fan Page. There are many other groups, websites, and fan pages available there as resources for you. It is also very easy to become friends electronically with other practice managers through online social media connections.

 

Get connected with outside vendors so that you are readily informed of changes in their industry as well. Pharmaceutical reps, IT support staff, equipment and medical supply vendors are just a few of the types of vendors that you can use as part of your support team. Keep the lines of communication open with them by informing them of your medical office changes and request that they do the same. Invite vendors into your practice for demonstrations, etc. to stay current with the latest technology. Many times you will find that you have been doing things the long or hard way when there is a much better solution now available. Your vendors are traveling in other medical social circles and will possibly be aware of webinars, websites and other news that will assist you in your quest for updated information.  Take advantage of the opportunities to learn from them. 

 

To think of your patients as team members may appear counterproductive at first thought, but give it an open mind. You will find that the more your patients are informed of policies, procedures and privacy requirements, the more helpful and understanding they become. If they know what you are expecting of them, and you show appreciation for their feedback, then you can have a great working relationship that benefits both parties. This good communication with them has the potential to stimulate your bottom line by producing loyal, satisfied and paying clients that will refer you to others.

 

Your support team can be big as you can envision. Remember that no one who ever did anything great did it alone. Now is not the time to single out your practice and go it alone. Join forces with others like you who want to succeed. Learn to leverage your team to help your practice prosper, and by doing so you will be encouraging the same for others.