Experience is often a manager's best education. Such is the case for a two-physician, six-staff orthopedic surgery practice in Rhode Island. The manager, who has been with the office for 20 years, has found that the best way to prevent the last-minute sick calls is to allow staff to carry their sick days over to the next year. But instead of transferring as sick days, the time … [Read more...] about This year’s unused sick days become next year’s personal days
Employee benefits
New study finds connection between resilience and positive business outcomes
Today's employers are challenged to provide competitive benefits and employee engagement strategies that not only support the well-being of their employees, but also improve the bottom line. With resilience building and mindfulness training programs continuing to gain momentum in the workplace, meQuilibrium, recently conducted a study to measure resilience against … [Read more...] about New study finds connection between resilience and positive business outcomes
Big issues faced by medical office managers
By Steve M. Cohen bio Although medical office managers face many unique issues, some of the most challenging are those shared with managers of other types of organizations. Take the difficulties of hiring and retaining good staff. Although the professional demands of a medical office are certainly unique, workforce strategies such as developing talent from within … [Read more...] about Big issues faced by medical office managers
Medical practice staffing trends
Effective medical office management requires staying abreast of staffing trends. With this in mind, Medical Office Manager takes a look at the trends most likely to impact your practice. Physician shortage According to projections by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the United States faces a shortage of more than 90,000 physicians by 2020 and 130,000 … [Read more...] about Medical practice staffing trends
Are you the reason your employees quit?
Most companies strive to hire or promote someone with the right skills to do the job. But when hiring a manager, many fail to take the manager's personality, attitude, values, and emotional intelligence into consideration. What they end up with is a highly technically skilled manager with poor people skills, big ego, "my way or the highway" attitude, and blind spots the size … [Read more...] about Are you the reason your employees quit?
Paid sick leave: what medical practices need to know
Currently, there is no federal law that requires private sector employers, including medical practices, to provide paid or unpaid sick leave, explains a new report from XpertHR, an online service for HR professionals from Reed Business Information. Without federal legislation in place, however, several states and local jurisdictions have taken matters into their own hands by … [Read more...] about Paid sick leave: what medical practices need to know
Model Policy: Catastrophic leave program
Why you need this policy: A leave-sharing program appears to be a win-win-win solution for employer, donating employee, and receiving employee. But employers need to be careful when implementing a program like this to avoid some potential administrative, managerial, and tax problems. How this policy helps you: Rules regarding an employee's right to various types of leave … [Read more...] about Model Policy: Catastrophic leave program
90 minutes of unpaid time off ends a bookkeeping nightmare
A Kentucky medical office manager has devised a method to control time off, focusing on making the paperwork easier. Keeping track of 45-minute appointments or an hour of personal leave is a bookkeeping nightmare, says the administrator for a five-physician women's care clinic. And it's especially difficult for a large practice such as hers, which has 26 staff. So she combined … [Read more...] about 90 minutes of unpaid time off ends a bookkeeping nightmare
How to implement a leave-sharing program
"How can I help?" It's a question that many employees ask when a coworker or a coworker's family member is facing a serious medical issue. One way that employers can facilitate assistance is to allow employees to donate time off to their coworkers who have exhausted all available leave. At first glance, a leave-sharing program appears to be a win-win-win solution. It's a … [Read more...] about How to implement a leave-sharing program
How to manage personal cell phone use in the workplace
"Like many offices, we have had problems with employees using cell phones for personal calls, texts, etc. during business hours," says Beverly Bragg, administrator at San Antonio Preventive & Diagnostic Medicine. It hasn't been an easy problem to resolve. "Although we've talked about this issue on a routine basis at our monthly staff meetings, employees continued to use … [Read more...] about How to manage personal cell phone use in the workplace