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Employee management continues to be a challenge in every business and healthcare is no exception. Keeping staff motivated and producing the kinds of efforts that result in accuracy, productivity and strategic thinking requires not only patience, but also good listening skills and constant feedback.

President Harry Truman once said...."you will be amazed at what can be accomplished if you don't care who gets the credit." While it is of course important to give credit where credit is due, the politics of credit often interrupts and diffuses efforts to manage and run an efficient medical practice.  Personalities being what they are, who gets the credit sometimes  becomes more important than what is accomplished.  

Because healthcare is a people business; providers, staff, nurses and patients must all recognize their role in providing/achieving quality healthcare. The idea of teamwork is really allowing each person to excel at what they are most skilled. Like a finely practiced orchestra that produces an extraordinary sound, all playing at their individual best but in concert with each other.

The real  challenge in managing employees is creating the right expectations. Clearly defined job roles, excellent and on-going training and cross-training, the right pay for the right job, creating a culture of the practice values and vision will always result in excellence.

In this ever changing world of instant information, patient expectations have and will continue to change as well.  The social media, the internet and even TV ads give patients access to information they simply did not have access to 10 years ago.  Understanding this growing and informed population of patients should be a key mission of the practice.  Creating and updating a practice web site will give patients what they want most......more information about their chronic conditions, how they can comply with set routines to control those conditions and have a clear understanding of the providers expectation for them.

All of the staff of the practice need to be educated in the same way. From the receptionist to the billing clerk; an understanding of what the practice wants to communicate to patients and how they want that information communicated will build trust between staff and patients.  That trust cannot be under-estimated.

In every practice there will be times of staff disputes. It is inevitable. How quickly those disputes are resolved and addressed with clear and practical outcomes will set the precedent for future disputes.  Having consistent policies to deal with all disputes will reduce on-going stress in the practice. My mom used to say...."nip it".  LOL, it was her way of telling us that the discussion was over, the decision had been made, let's move on. And it worked.

The practice manager should be well trained to deal with managing personnel.  It should be positive, motivational, clear and with carefully explained policies.