Every year presents a new opportunity to upgrade your employees’ skills. This year the opportunity for staff growth is even greater than normal. With the pandemic and staffing upheaval overwhelming practices over the last two years, routine training exercises (understandably) fell through the cracks for many. Moreover, having to hastily adopt new protocols and technology meant that staff could not receive structured training they normally would when new processes or tools are introduced.
Here are some areas you may want to focus on when planning your staff training activities and efforts for the months ahead:
1. Cybersecurity
Cyber risks are ever-evolving and your staff needs to be able to implement modern measures and routines that protect patient data. In the bid to quickly set up employees for remote work, and patients for telehealth services, cybersecurity protocols might have been temporarily ignored or forgotten. But as practices have now settled into a new operational rhythm, the need to focus on cybersecurity becomes imperative again. You can do this by hiring an expert to come in and teach your staff about cybersecurity best practices. You can also sign your staff up for workshops or online classes that offer cybersecurity training.
2. Clinical efficiency
Practice staff often have to manage clinical-adjacent tasks like meeting with life science reps. For optimal efficiency, they need to be well-equipped with the ability to gain the most value from these meetings in the shortest time possible. Platforms that automate the manual processes surrounding scheduling and managing rep meetings, so the focus can be on the educational content. Additionally, practices have instant access to real-time information about patient assistance programs and eligibility requirements—taking the hassle out of the process.
3. Technology
Your practice most likely added a couple of new technology tools and solutions to its suite last couple of years. Telemedicine platforms, scheduling tools, and collaboration solutions are just some of the technologies that medical practices had to acquire to mitigate the pandemic’s impact. Many have features that enable users to eliminate manual, time-consuming tasks, and there’s every chance your staff isn’t fully utilizing them yet. Now is the best time to train your staff on how to use these technologies most effectively and efficiently. Fortunately, training staff in this regard could be super easy. Many solutions vendors offer free training and guidance to their customers. Take advantage of this kind of customer support and connect your staff to their representatives so they can learn directly from the source.
Focusing on training staff holds many benefits for your practice. Employee satisfaction levels go up significantly when your staff can automate manual tasks, work more efficiently, and enjoy a lightened workload. More, they also develop stronger feelings of loyalty towards your practice for investing in their growth.
