Last week, I blogged about the unusualness in the Hospitalist management setting. This week was the 2009 Challenge of the Flexible Schedule. Sounds pretty groovy, doesn't it? Who doesn't like a flexible work schedule? For the medical executive-it can be a double-edged sword. We had a three-day conflict here between two staff members. (Refer to item #10 from You May Work in a Hospitalist Practice If...) I know, I know, why do I need staff because I run a Hospitalist program? The claims don't go out on their own.
The challenge with flexible schedules is I can often times be behind the story instead of in front of the story. So, after I had one emotional side of the story from inside of the office, I realized that we had to extend this drama another day until the other party could be heard. I kept thinking about a colleague of mine who runs a hospitalist practice from inside the hospital (not hospital-owned, however) and her staff is down the hall in a converted patient room. Uncommon, you say? Not necessarily in this specialty.
Full moon AND the Golden Globes were last week folks...no, I can't say that. I sat patiently, listened and dug into the issues and in the end we landed up creating a needed policy. It's all good now in the Virtual- ness spaces!