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Home » Open Content
MANAGING STAFF

How to handle a scamming, scheming staffer

May 26, 2023 by

By Lynne Curry Question: I run a small firm. When I advertised for a new hire, I didn’t find anyone who had the right skill set. “Will” applied. Although he lacked the skills I sought, he interviewed well and said he was willing to learn everything necessary to become my No. 1 employee. I took a chance on him and invested months in training him. He shadowed me, developed rapport with my key clients, and learned strategies I’d spent 20 years developing. We had one skirmish. When he found out how much I was paying his predecessor, he lobbied fiercely for a raise. Although his work didn’t justify the salary I was already paying him, he had good natural talent and I didn’t want to start over with a new… . . . read more.

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BILLING & COLLECTIONS

4 strategies for more effective medical billing

May 4, 2023 by

By Isaac Smith The medical billing process can be a time-consuming endeavor, but there are several ways you can improve your practice’s revenue flow. Here are five strategies for increasing your medical billing efficiency. 1 Ensure transparency in payments Whether you provide in-network or out-of-network services, patients are looking for more transparency from their healthcare providers. They want to know what they can expect and what is included in the price tag. And they are willing to pay for it if you deliver on your promises. One of the most important aspects of medical office administration is billing and collections. A good revenue cycle tool will help you to be more transparent by generating reliable out-of-pocket cost estimates at the time of service, as well as helping you to identify… . . . read more.

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YOUR CAREER

Snappy comebacks WHEN you need them

April 27, 2023 by

By Lynne Curry The snappy comeback you wish you’d had when “Jim” sniped at you in the meeting, and you sat frozen and speechless. The silencing comment you wish you’d given “Brenda” when you walked past the break room and you heard her dissing you. Why don’t those comebacks arrive when you need them? Here’s why… When you experience a verbal attack or another threat, your habitual neural pathways get tripped. Your body moves into high-alert survival mode. Your body tenses and heart rate speeds up; you breathe rapidly and shallowly. You feel flushed or sweaty; turn white or red; and may feel nauseated or a knot in your stomach. The solution? Pause and breathe. By pausing and slowing your breathing, you activate your parasympathetic system, slow down your heartbeat,… . . . read more.

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YOUR CAREER

What happened to weekends?

April 19, 2023 by

By Lynne Curry If you’ve lost your weekends to work projects begging to be finished and annoying pop-up employer emails, you’re not alone. According to ActivTrak’s survey of 134,260 employees who worked for 900 separate organizations, employees work an average of 6.6 hours, almost a full work day, each weekend. If this fits you, consider these questions: Has your job taken over too much of your life? What do you need to do to recover your weekend? The vanishing weekend For many managers and employees, weekends dwindled in exchange for a flexible work/life balance. You wanted to attend exercise classes at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Go for it. You drop your kids off at nine a.m. and pick them up at three p.m.? No problem, use your weekend to… . . . read more.

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TELEWORK

The nomadic remote employee: Employee dream, employer nightmare

April 11, 2023 by

By Lynne Curry Question: Several of our employees regularly travel out of state. Before the pandemic, they took vacations for several days or weeks. They and we understood they were on vacation. The situation was clear cut. Our current team includes three employees who want to travel and stay for weeks or even months, in places like Hawaii and Thailand or with relatives. While they insist they can work and should receive full paychecks, this doesn’t seem fair to the rest of us who remain onsite and have to pick up the pieces when our “travelers” can’t be easily reached. We agree they can get some work done, but have no way of knowing if they’re putting in 40 hours a week. We tried to explain how messy this felt… . . . read more.

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How to Manage a More Profitable Medical Practice During Difficult Financial Times

March 21, 2023 by

Presentation Slides: Download PDF   How to Manage a More Profitable Medical Practice During Difficult Financial Times Presenter: Ron Howrigon Join Ron Howrigon for this practical, ‘how-to” webinar that’s packed with the proven practice management ideas, tips and techniques to help you grow your practice revenue and profitability even in today’s challenging economy.


MANAGING STAFF

Negative staff: Is the problem you?

May 11, 2022 by

By Lynne Curry The manager called me, completely frustrated with his team. He told me his employees were negative, blamed each other for problems, didn’t communicate with him or take accountability and didn’t buy in to important initiatives. He asked me to talk with his key employees and tell me how to fix them. When I met with him afterwards, I asked, “How honest do you want me to be?” His eyes widened in alarm and he said, “Honest, I guess.” “The main problem on your team isn’t your employees. It’s you.” Here’s what I told him. If you’re the team’s leader, it’s on you As the leader, you set the tone. If as a leader, you focus on “who was responsible for what went wrong?” with pointed “why did… . . . read more.

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PRODUCTIVITY

5 ways to say goodbye to the procrastination blues

April 13, 2022 by

By Lynne Curry The report’s good, but not good enough. You should have worked on it a week ago, but you put it off. Friday afternoon, you panicked. You killed a perfectly good weekend to get everything finished by the Monday morning due date. If you want to break the “put it off until nearly too late” habit, try these five strategies. 1. Decide you’ll start projects when you need to start them — even if you don’t “feel ready” Procrastinators hesitate to begin projects until they “feel ready.” Unfortunately, you may not feel ready until long after you should have started. The antidote? When you commit to a project, assign a “D” (no more delay) date. When that date arrives, start the project, even if your only action is… . . . read more.

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LEADERSHIP

10 tips to turn toxic management to teamwork

April 8, 2022 by

By Daryll Esposito You know how valuable your employees are. The question is, do they know you know it? Medical offices face an array of new developments and challenges, from staff shortages to pandemic absences to new practice modes like telehealth. Successful offices must be agile and dynamic, nurturing an environment that is not only productive but also provides flexibility, opportunity, and job satisfaction. Almost two-thirds of small to midsized companies report that employee retention is a bigger problem now than hiring new people, according to research from Zenefits. Losing good employees can lead to delays, disruptions, and reduced morale—which makes good management more important than ever. What is a toxic boss? Leadership is never easy. It requires big-picture thinking, tough calls, and a deft touch to nudge things in… . . . read more.

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WORKING WITH PATIENTS

Prevent losing your patients by focusing on these 4 areas

January 13, 2020 by

By Nick Hernandez bio The changes to the healthcare industry are increasingly focused on addressing patients as consumers. Such a change means that providers must, of course, emphasize quality and work toward price transparency, but they must also seek to determine what patients desire most. It is this last effort that is transforming the healthcare sector more like businesses of other sectors; what consumers want, is what drives competition and ingenuity (and oftentimes commoditization). Perhaps more than ever, physicians need to be focused not just on attracting more patients, but also on not losing the patients they have. Under the healthcare reform legislation, the federal government views patients as consumers. Consequently, national attention has been placed on the patients as consumers, and that attention has not gone unnoticed. Indeed, patients… . . . read more.

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