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You are here: Home / Archives for Managing the office
CORONAVIRUS

Practical guidance for medical office employers handling coronavirus

March 8, 2020 by

By Paul Edwards bio We know there is a lot of information (and misinformation) out there about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and how to handle it in the workplace. Our goal is to provide you with guidance on how to handle this as an employer—practical solutions for the impact the coronavirus may have on your business. If an employee is sick, can I send him/her home? If an employee is objectively showing signs of being sick—flu symptoms, bad cold symptoms, coronavirus symptoms, or other—you are able to send them home so that they don’t pose a health risk to the rest of your team or other visitors to the office. Most employers encourage their teams to stay home if they are unwell, but don’t necessarily require it unless it appears to… . . . read more.

Filed Under: blog, Managing staff, Managing the office, Risk management Tagged With: , , , ,
CORONAVIRUS

4 steps prepare your medical office for coronavirus disease

March 5, 2020 by

The true impact of a COVID-19 outbreak in a U.S. community cannot be predicted. However, all healthcare facilities can take steps now to prepare for such an outbreak and protect both their patients and staff. 1 Be prepared: Stay informed about the local COVID-19 situation. Know where to turn for reliable, up-to-date information in your local community. Monitor the CDC COVID-19 website and your state and local health department websitesexternal for the latest information. Develop, or review, your facility’s emergency plan. A COVID-19 outbreak in your community could lead to staff absenteeism. Prepare alternative staffing plans to ensure as many of your facility’s staff are available as possible. Establish relationships with key healthcare and public health partners in your community. Make sure you know about healthcare and public health emergency planning and response activities in your… . . . read more.

Filed Under: articles, Managing patients, Managing staff, Managing the office, must read Tagged With: , , , ,

Five reasons you need an employee handbook

February 4, 2020 by

By Julie Ellison bio For many employers, the idea of creating an Employee Handbook is overwhelming.  But the importance of having one should outweigh that hesitancy given the peace of mind it can provide you while you are busy running your law firm or business. An Employee Handbook is your roadmap for what your employees can expect from you and what you expect from your employees.  It should be simple, straightforward and relevant.  Not having one in place can create huge headaches that are completely avoidable. Here are five good reasons to have an employee handbook: 1. Handbooks Set Employee Expectations Handbooks allow you to clearly set forth everything from job responsibilities to disciplinary procedures, thus keeping employee expectations consistent with the employer. Experience teaches us that employees are willing to… . . . read more.

Filed Under: blog, Compliance, Employee benefits, Hiring, Hiring and firing, Managing staff, Managing the office, Risk management, Termination Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Strategic planning needs to evolve over time

February 3, 2020 by

By Nick Hernandez bio Some of my counterparts have a firm belief that strategic planning is a rigid process which should occur once every three to five years. The process they undertake is often done during an off-site planning session with the outcome being printed up in a large three-ring binder. In less than six months, those binders are sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust, never to again see the light of day. I, on the other hand, believe that strategic planning should be a continuous process involving the ongoing adjustment of means and ends. We should also view planning as an evolutionary process involving continuous adjustment and improvement. We can think of strategic planning as a solution-by-evolution rather than solution-by-engineering. We should generally not view strategic planning as trying… . . . read more.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: , ,
WORKPLACE SAFETY

COMPLIANCE: A 10-step compliance strategy for OSHA Recordkeeping Rules

January 24, 2020 by

January is the season when employers must compile their OSHA logs for the previous year. Here’s an overview of the OSHA Recordkeeping Standard and a 10-step strategy to ensure compliance. Step 1: Figure out if your office is covered Physician offices are among the industries listed by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as being partially exempt from the Standard (Section 1904.39), as shown below: Partially Exempt Industries by NAICS Code NAICS Code Industry 6211 Offices of Physicians 6212 Offices of Dentists 6213 Offices of Other Health Practitioners 6214 Outpatient Care Centers 6215 Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories 6113 Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools 8122 Death Care Services Result: You don’t have to keep OSHA injury and illness records (aka OSHA 300 Logs) for any establishment classified under the applicable NAICS… . . . read more.

Filed Under: articles, Managing staff, Managing the office, Risk management, Workplace safety Tagged With: , , ,

TOOL: Model Employee Illness/Injury Reporting Policy

January 24, 2020 by

The OSHA Recordkeeping Standard requires you to record and potentially report work-related illnesses and injuries. Reporting of illnesses and injuries is also crucial to investigating, identifying and correcting problems that can lead to further incidents and OSHA violations. So, it’s crucial to establish a policy and procedure for workers to report workplace injuries and illnesses. You can adapt this Model Policy to ensure prompt and proper reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses.

Filed Under: Compliance, policy bank, Risk management, tools, topics, Workplace safety Tagged With: , , ,
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.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: , ,
ERGONOMICS

Better productivity and a happier staff happen as ergonomics steps in

November 17, 2019 by

Ergonomics is good economics. When the work areas are in sync with the people spending their days in them, there’s no time lost to sick days and no money lost to low productivity, says Hayley Kaye, a certified professional ergonomist with HLK Consulting in New York City. Achieving that calls for attention to the desks, the telephones, and the chairs. But it also calls for teaching people how to set them up correctly. It’s of zero value to have thousands of dollars of ergonomically correct furniture that nobody has adjusted. The elbow-wrenching desktop A good place to start is with the hands and elbows. For typing, they need to be level, Kaye says. Yet most desks are too high to the point that anybody shorter than 6’2″ has to sit with… . . . read more.

Filed Under: articles, Managing the office, Risk management, Workplace safety Tagged With: , ,
BLOG

How to assess the overall health of your medical practice

October 4, 2019 by

By Nick Hernandez  bio
How do you know that your overall business is healthy? How do you know that the business processes you perform are…


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Filed Under: blog, Increasing profits, Managing the office, Working with physicians Tagged With: , , , , ,
WORKPLACE SAFETY

Six steps to prepare for an active shooter event in the workplace

October 4, 2019 by

Active shooter events are devastating and unpredictable, says Melissa Gonzalez Boyce, a legal editor for XpertHR. She also points out that…


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Filed Under: Managing staff, Managing the office, Risk management, Workplace safety Tagged With: , , ,

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