December 2013 - Capko & Morgan

Resolve to give better feedback to staff in 2014

Turnover and hiring are costly. Staff are so important to your practice's patient service, financial performance and overall functioning. Given these things, one of the best investments you can make in your own leadership abilities as a physician owner or practice manager is to develop the skill of delivering effective feedback to employees. The importance of giving effective feedback to staff really can't be overstated. Your ability to nurture better performance and address inadequate performance impacts everything from employee skill development, to team morale, to legal risk. Every aspect practice performance depends on getting the best from your staff, and that depends on giving the right feedback at the right time(s) and in the right way. Giving employee feedback is not easy, and getting really good at it requires effort and focus. But your efforts will be rewarded many times over. One of the best recent summaries I've seen lately on delivering effective feedback comes from the Stanford Graduate School of Business -- a summary of a lecture by Carole Robin. It's a short list of seven pithy tips, and you can act on it now! Highly recommended reading. (A couple of previews: "Do it now" and "Stay on your side of the net." Read the piece for quick explanations of these ideas -- and five more.)

By Laurie Morgan|2013-12-24T10:06:33-08:00December 28th, 2013|

Will 2014 be a better year for your medical practice?

This is certainly a reasonable question to ask considering the rapid-fire change, threats and unknown factors medical practices face due to the Affordable Care Act. But here are a few things you can do to deal with all of this. First, keep your eye on the ball. Don’t throw up your hands in frustration, but follow the news and the legislation that is likely to impact the way you practice medicine, your future stability and the care and service offered to your patients. Read everything you can and keep your cool. In other words, don’t throw your hands up in despair. Put the emotions aside and be prepared to respond. If you know what’s coming down the pike you can be practice-ready and take strategic actions rather than wait, feel the panic and be reactive, which typically leads to poor, costly decisions. Well thought out decisions will explore not only the potential threats, but the opportunities that are available to you and your colleagues without compromising your integrity or patient care and service. Next, look at the numbers. How well did your practice perform compared to prior year and compared to other practices in your specialty? Benchmarking will help you examine the trends so you can examine areas where performance was disappointing and seek ways to bolster them for next year. The numbers tell the story of past performance and give you an opportunity to set future goals that keep the practice stable and on financially solid ground. Don’t make squeezing cost a primary focus. Sure, it’s normal to focus on costs when reimbursement is tight and may get tighter, but in reality you can only squeeze costs so much. If you focus most of your efforts on costs you are likely to reduce quality and service. The highest expense for a medical practice is staffing, but the old saying: “You pay peanuts, you get monkeys” is true. Hire well – highly skilled and experienced people; respect them, pay them well and set high expectation goals and staff well help your organization to me more profitable. Physicians and managers can

By Judy Capko|2022-01-01T22:52:11-08:00December 23rd, 2013|

Six steps physician leaders and practice managers can take to improve the patient experience

Leadership sets the tone for the entire practice. Staff will model your commitment and follow your expectations. Much of the manager’s role focused on managing practice finances, maintaining practice viability, and keeping a highly motivated and efficient staff that is respectful and trustworthy. Add to the list a new yardstick that changes how physicians get paid based on a patient experience that improves compliance to result in better outcomes. Develop a plan and set up programs to help staff understand how the patient experience relates to both outcomes and practice finances. Show your commitment through continued communication and actions that reveal a consistent effort to improve the patient experience. Give staff the education and tools to succeed in delivery consistency in your customer service organization-wide. Coach staff to improve performance. Provide them with the support and encouragement with implementing essential changes on the road to being more patient-centered. Manage progress well. This means conducting a baseline patient satisfaction study based on key performance areas and periodic follow-up to be sure targeted areas of improvement results in satisfactory results. Set your goals for becoming a best practice. Be explicit in what you expect and intend to achieve. Honor each person’s contribution and celebrate successes that achieved along the way. Leaders have the ability to set the stage for success, instill a sense of pride and hope within the organization, and meet the challenges of strengthening the relationship between the clinical practice and the patients they serve. In the end, we seek to improve the health of our patients, enjoy the relationship we have with patients and be among the best.

By Judy Capko|2022-01-01T22:52:11-08:00December 14th, 2013|

Upcoming webinar: know what patients really think

I will be conducting a webinar called “Nothing but the Facts: Find out What Your Patients Really Think, hosted by Kareo, on January 15th, 2014. Physicians and staff typically focus on what’s clinically the matter with patients and how to make them better. No question this is paramount, but there’s more to the patient experience. It’s time to find out if you are really meeting the patient’s expectations. This webinar will talk about the importance of conducting patient surveys to get the real facts about your patients’ level of satisfaction. You will discover key factors that influence the patient experience, and why healthcare reform is making this a priority. You will discover the impact of patient satisfaction on the overall practice performance. You will learn the technical details involved with conducting surveys that tell you what your patients need from you, and how to get the most out of the feedback information you gain. You cannot assume how patients feel about your practice. Your patient service performance depends on getting facts and learning what it takes to be a best-practice when it comes to the patient experience.

By Judy Capko|2013-12-07T14:54:59-08:00December 12th, 2013|

ACA out-of-pocket costs: Vindication isn’t always sweet

The New York Times reported today that "On Health Exchanges, Premiums Maybe Be Low, But Other Costs Can Be High." This is something we've been talking about for a couple of months now -- often getting skeptical looks here in our super-blue home-town. But it's not about partisanship. The ACA is simply accelerating the trend of payers pushing more responsibility onto patients -- a trend that has been gathering momentum for many years. It's not unexpected if you've been watching how health plans have been evolving. Still, it is discouraging if you had hoped the exchange plans would offer better patient protection against big out-of-pocket costs -- and it also means that the burden that practices face to collect more of their revenue from patients keeps growing. The AMA's 2013 National Health Insurer Report Card (NHIRC), published earlier this year, revealed that health plans across the country were placing about 25% financial responsibility for cost of care onto patients: Aetna Anthem Cigna UHC Medicare 20.40% 23.10% 25.90% 23.40% 24.60% The target 2014 patient responsibility proportions that were set for all ACA plans skew even higher than this -- even the "silver" level, where subsidies are targeted, pegs patient responsibility at 30%: ACA Bronze ACA Silver ACA Gold ACA Platinum 40% 30% 20% 10% These "actuarial values" were fairly widely reported prior to the exchanges even opening (here's one link from MSN), so it's a bit of a mystery why the Times is reporting this as news at this point. It's critical that consumers understand what they're getting into when they sign up for coverage, and the media should have been on top of this key information. (Especially if you've not purchased coverage before, the terminology behind patient responsibility payments -- co-insurance, deductibles, copayments, out of pocket -- can be very confusing. Many new patients are likely to be confused and possibly quite disappointed.) We expect that this means practices will need to be even more careful and sensitive in dealing with privately insured patients, especially in January, when deductibles re-set. Some patients will be more confused than ever --

By Laurie Morgan|2022-01-01T22:52:11-08:00December 9th, 2013|

Does your staff treat patients well?
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Does your staff treat patients well?

medical practice business, patient satisfaction, patient service, PQRS, regulation

Does your staff treat patients well?

Healthcare reform is placing the relationship between the patient and the medical practice front and center in hopes of improving compliance and clinical outcomes. It’s all about strengthening the relationship between patients, their physicians and the entire practice and making patients feel valued. Although physicians are working hard to strengthen their relationship with the patients, the staff seems to fall short. In 2013 Capko & Morgan conducted a patient satisfaction survey that spanned five metro areas of the U.S. It revealed staff is falling short on making patients feel valued by their practices. 37% of the respondents felt the staff performed only adequately in terms of making them feel valued and respected, another 7% rated staff poorly, and suggesting there is much room for improvement. So what can you do to get staff on board with providing a better patient experience? Talk about it. Help staff understand that they are a reflection of the practice to every patient. It is an important role and they hold the key to making patients feel valued. Build in accountability. Schedule a customer service planning meeting with staff to collectively set some performance standard dealing with staff-patient interaction. New Patients: Every employee is expected to honor new patients and making them feel comfortable Get rid of the sign-in sheet. Introduce yourself and make a statement that welcomes them or thanks them for choosing your practice. Don’t just hand patients a clip board, explain why you need them to provide information and let them know you appreciate their cooperation. Thank them when they are finished. When rooming the new patient give some information about her new physicians to provide important reassurance that she is in good hands. All patients: Greeted with a smile and by name within one minute of arrival for a visit Kept informed of expected wait time in reception room and exam room Before ending the conversation with a patient ask “Is there anything I can help you with?” On the phone Staff will identify themselves by name. Callers will not be kept on hold more than 30 seconds without further communication

By Judy Capko|2022-01-01T22:52:12-08:00December 7th, 2013|

An embezzling story to learn from
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An embezzling story to learn from

embezzlement, finances, internal controls, medical practice business

An embezzling story to learn from

A marketing director for Castle & Cooke, a mortgage firm, is believed to have stolen almost $200K from her employer in less than a year of employment -- until she was caught and charged with fraud. While the case does not involve a medical practice or healthcare organization, it does offer some reminders about protecting a small office from internal theft. The employee allegedly ran up large false expense reimbursements and forged company checks -- both possible in any small business with inadequate controls, including medical practices. Practices can learn from this incident. Check stock should be protected, and managed by a physician owner. No one should be allowed to sign checks except a physician owner -- no signature stamps! And owners should reconcile the bank statement monthly, so that any unauthorized checks could be spotted. Unauthorized expense reimbursements or charges are common routes to embezzlement in medical practices. Be cautious about allowing employees -- even a manager -- unsupervised control of a credit card or an expense account with a vendor. Review purchases "for the office" carefully -- make sure that everything on the Costco or Amazon bill can be accounted for in the office. Remember, not allowing temptation is the best way to prevent embezzlement -- and the best way to maintain a relaxed, family like atmosphere in your office, because you have less need to be suspicious of anyone. Internal controls are a gift to your practice -- they protect against profitability loss while also helping to support trust and morale.

By Laurie Morgan|2022-01-01T22:52:12-08:00December 3rd, 2013|

50% off Judy’s books: Secrets; Patient-Centered Payoff

Judy's publisher, Greenbranch, is offering a special holiday discount of 50% on all books through midnight (EST) on Monday, 12/2/13. If you were considering buying Judy's best-seller, Secrets of the Best-Run Practices, or her new book, The Patient-Centered Payoff, now is your chance to get them both at half off! (The links go to the print edition, but ebooks are available, too.) Click here to shop at the Greenbranch site -- and use the code "Green" when you check out.

By Laurie Morgan|2022-01-01T22:52:12-08:00December 1st, 2013|

Monthly Archives: December 2013