leadership and inspiration Archives - Page 2 of 2

Leadership: It’s about treating people well

Joe Capko did a webinar with Medical Practice Management Web Advisor earlier this week on how effective leadership translates to more productivity from your staff -- and vice versa. One of his themes was establishing trust by listening and treating people fairly, and letting them know they are valued. People give more to their jobs when they know you care! Aptly, today's email tip from Harvard Business Review was called "Engage Your People," and featured some of the same ideas Joe offered. Basically, less top down, more listening, more working together. To read the HBR tip, click here.

By Morgan|2022-01-01T22:52:41-08:00October 27th, 2011|

Office Squabbles? Three Areas to Look for a Fix

Do you have conflicting personalities in your office? Do such differences result in petty squabbling? While inter-office conflicts are common, there are a few things an administer can do to greatly reduce conflict in the workplace. It's important to address conflicts before they affect the professionalism of your practice, the morale of your staff, and your practice's productivity. Most of what is attributed to personality conflicts in the workplace can be traced to a just a handful of sources for which you most likely are responsible! Job descriptions: It's all too easy for disputes to emerge when responsibilities are not well defined. In today's changing medical field, jobs change -- don't let those job descriptions lead to finger-pointing in the office. Clearly delineated responsibilities allow staff to both receive credit and take responsibility for tasks. Without clear definitions it's too easy for misunderstandings (of differences in performance) to escalate into personal resentments. Cross-training: The counterpart to clearly job descriptions is that your staff should be well cross-trained and able and willing to fill-in where they are needed. Cross-training has the benefit of helping everyone in the office truly appreciate what important roles the others are fulfilling. Additionally, it shows that you are interested in the well-being and career and skill advancement of your staff. There's a fine line between a groove and a rut! To the extent you are able, provide variety in the work environment so that your staff doesn't fall into an abyss of boredom. Fairness: If your staff perceives that some receive preferential treatment, morale will suffer and, with falling morale, it's only to be expected that friction will increase. An under-appreciated fact is that perceptions of fairness and openness to communication go hand-in-hand. If your staff feels they can approach you to complain because you have a sincere interest in their well-being, you are well on your way to resolving squabbles among your staff. Challenge yourself to hear that which is difficult for you to hear. No one is free from biases and your staff can serve as a mirror to your own policies -- it's important

By Joe Capko|2022-01-01T22:52:42-08:00September 30th, 2011|

Could your team be great? Aim for real.

Harvard Business Review posted a great tip today about "real teams." The pointed out that "real" teams -- i.e., groups that really work together as one -- all share three important characteristics: Shared sense of purpose Flexible skills Mutual accountability There's a great lesson here for medical practices. Physicians set the tone of purpose and accountability. Good training policies and skilled practice management ensure cross-training keeps everyone fresh and the practice able to withstand absences and staffing changes. Hiring people who can fit with the ethos of the team keeps everything humming along. Read more at Harvard Business Review.

By Morgan|2022-01-01T22:52:54-08:00August 23rd, 2011|

Get a clear picture of practice performance: Part 2

Our last post talked about some of the key performance indicators a practice can examine to understand how well it is performing. Now we will dig a little deeper and look at other indicators that identify if a practice is above the norm and meeting the expectations the team has set. Managing referrals and the revenue cycle It is important to monitor and compare these additional performance indicators between each physician in the practice from year to year: Top ten CPT codes by utilization: Determines the high demand services and variables between physicians. This report can also be used to track payer reimbursement trends for these top revenue sources. Number of new patient and established patient visits: Monitors practice growth or decline. Referral trends: Tells you who are referring, who is not and how this is changing over time. This is also a good way to evaluate referral management and marketing efforts. Accounts receivable and days in A/R, DAR reveals how well you are doing at bringing in the money. Aged accounts receivable 90 days or more: An important indicator for monitoring internal billing and collection performance. Ideally ,this will be less that 15% of the total A/R. Outstanding claims: If there are variants between physicians there could be contracting issues or differences in physician coding (CPT and ICD) and reporting patterns. The old saying “you cannot manage what you fail to measure” is true. When armed with this data the practice will be able to better understand its position and know what corrective actions and changes need to be made. If this post brings a question to your mind that remains unanswered, contact us by following this link: www.capko.com. We are on your side!

By Judy Capko|2022-01-01T22:52:55-08:00June 13th, 2011|

Be a Lean Machine

Solving work flow problems is among the biggest challenges medical offices face on a daily basis. Work flow issues can be caused by a lack of defined work processes and individual responsibilities or poor training. It may seem like an oxymoron but too little or too much staff can also be a contributor to poor work flow. Regardless, it will result in unhappy patients and diminished profits. It's time to get serious about creating a lean operating machine. Here's some tips to help you get started: Take a critical look at workflow bottlenecks. Map work flow: Examine processes throughout the office to identify and eliminate those that don't provide added value to the customer or the practice. Involve staff in seeking solutions to problem areas of work flow. Everyone needs to give a valid reason for the various steps they go through to complete a task as a first step to eliminate processes that are redundant or duplicated. Examine errors or tasks that are completed to find the cause and develop the right solution. Develop a written plan to implement the best solution, including target dates for incremental progress. Communicate throughout the entire change process. There will be times when you will want to refocus and perhaps change directions. Celebrate your success along the way!

By Judy Capko|2022-01-01T22:52:55-08:00June 6th, 2011|

Marketing Your Practice with a Code Update Event

By Joe Capko, Capko & Company Every year, changes to the CPT codes take medical practices by surprise -- even though everyone knows the updates are coming. Whether it's because doctors and administrators assume that coding changes won't likely apply to their specialty, because it's hard to find time to go through the materials, or just due to old-fashioned procrastination, most of the practices we work with wind up ignoring the new codes until they start finding out the hard way that the codes they've been using are no longer valid -- i.e., once claims start to be rejected. Naturally, this is a costly problem for all practices, as these rejected codes can mean payment delays of six months or more. Here's the good news. Since most (if not all) of the other practices you work with as referring partners are facing the same pain-in-the-neck, why not turn this hassle into a marketing opportunity? You can do it by hosting a Code Update Seminar -- call it a "code party" if you want to be less formal about it -- and invite the practice managers and administrators from the other practices you work with to learn about the changes. You arrange for a coding consultant to present an overview of the changes, along with a meal or some snacks -- depending on the size of the group you're inviting, you may need to rent out a large conference or event space at a nearby hotel or business center. Depending on your preferences (and those of your colleagues), you could schedule an early morning breakfast event, a lunch event, or an evening or weekend seminar. If this seems like too much effort or expense, you can try the "lite" version: a smaller, more intimate, group hosted in the office reception area during non-clinic hours. Helping to solve a problem that your colleagues all share while also giving your administrative staff the chance to network with their counterparts at your key referring partners is a wonderful way to promote your own practice without "selling." Be sure to have some tchotckes (pens, post-it

By Joe Capko|2011-01-17T19:03:22-08:00January 17th, 2011|

Monkey Business

Did you know that American workers spend nearly 20% of their time goofing off on the job? That's what a 2006 survey conducted by Salary.com and AOL revealed. I doubt that medical practices are excluded from this phenomenon. Here's what these employees are doing the most when they should be busy at work: Surfing the net; Socializing; Errands; and Spacing out. Why is this happening and what can you do about it? I believe the primary reasons for monkey business happening on your time are boredom, a lack of direction or people not really liking their jobs very much. Stand up and take notice. Make sure you are clear on your expectations and provide a work environment that makes people feel important and helps them succeed. Employees can make a break your future - you need everyone on the team contributing and feeling valued. Capko & Company experts in healthcare business management and marketing. Call on the Capko consulting team: www.capko.com

By Judy Capko|2011-01-11T17:46:09-08:00January 5th, 2011|

Dream Teams

Here's seven key points that exist within a Dream Team. Players are motivated toward the same goal. There are effective communication channels between each team member. Criticisim is respectful, honest and constructive. No idea is considered stupid. The culture is deep-seated in team unity. Team is willing to compromise to achieve goal in real time. Ability of team members to face obstacles objectively. With a strong leader you can inspire your staff and work toward creating the Dream Team. It's worth the effort! Capko & Company is one of America's leading healthcare practice management and marketing consulting firms.

By Judy Capko|2010-12-14T17:42:34-08:00December 14th, 2010|

What Makes a Practice Great?

The foundation of a great practice begins with leadership that is a paradoxical blend of humility and professional will. The will and unwavering resolve to set a standard and get superior results. Their personal humility is evident in their compelling modesty and calm determination.Most importantly, great leaders channel their ambitions into the practice not themselves. They enthusiastically give the credit to others for what is achieved, but look in the mirror when things don't go right.This is the kind of leader we want to work for. It is the kind of leader we inspire to be.Judy Capko is one of America's leading practice management and marketing consultants and the founder of Capko & Company, www.capko.com

By Judy Capko|2022-01-01T22:52:57-08:00October 9th, 2010|

A Winning Team

Employees emulate management, so if you want a winning team you gotta set the example. Positive interaction with staff drives better performance and makes everyone as winner. It's all about the tude, the attitude! Here's my top list of BE attitudes: Believe. Recognize individual strengths,set high expectations and praise their achievements. Be visible. Make the rounds by walking through the practice at least once a day. Greet each person and ask how the job is going. Be approachable, be part of the team! Be supportive. Recognize when a staffer is struggling or has a problem that interferes with his or her ability to perform the job. Provide support and seek meaningful solutions. Be Timely. Don't disregard employees or compromise the relationship by putting things off. If you've scheduled things that involve staff and are inclined to postpone them, don't. Here's a few examples: - Annual performance reviews - Staff meetings - Employee training and feedback sessions - Celebrations - Purchasing promised equipment or supplies Keep morale high, value staff and be a winning team. Hey readers, if you have additional tips share your comments. Judy Capko is one of America's leading practice practice management and marketing consultants.

By Judy Capko|2022-01-01T22:52:58-08:00June 5th, 2010|