How to Address Your Top Practice Concerns

In a recent survey by the Medical Group Management Association, healthcare leaders noted their top concerns include staffing, cost and revenue, practice transformation, technology, and operations.

As we have begun the new year, we have focused on the importance of developing a practice communication strategy and this week we will demonstrate how your practice concerns connect to your communication strategy. Understanding that your staff is the link that bonds your financials, practice evolution, technology and operations together is essential to building an effective practice infrastructure.

Leading a staff requires the realization that employee relationships are developmental and not transactional. To demonstrate this to your staff, requires a communication strategy that is staff centric and focuses on the staff’s successes, provides clarity of goals, and looks at mistakes as learning opportunities.

When we develop a communication strategy for our clients, it is customized to the practice but a few things are consistent including staff recognition, goals, and staff learnings.

We recommend that each meeting begin with recognizing what your staff did well the previous week. Perhaps they stayed late to support the add on of new patients to the schedule or quickly booked a last-minute surgery. Acknowledging your staff’s efforts shows them that you recognize and appreciate them and do not take them for granted.

To build a practice that is focused on growth means that your staff is aware of your practice goals and that they are empowered to make decisions in support of those goals. Having goals defines practice performance before the financials are booked and allows you to make timely adjustments.

Practice transformation cannot occur without staff support and like you, they are human, and some of their decisions may not be correct. How you manage those flawed decisions determines if your staff and practice will move forward. Every mistake is an opportunity to learn and recognizing your staff’s effort in managing situations shows appreciation and builds trust. Focusing on the learning and not the mistake ensures that your staff develops a growth mindset.

Keep in mind that this trust extends beyond the learning for the one employee and extends to the full staff. Yes, your staff is watching how their peers are treated and will modify their behaviors accordingly. If a peer makes a “bad” decision and they are reprimanded for it, privately or publicly, each staff member will be less empowered to make decisions and offer solutions.

So, if your concerns for 2021 are like your peers from the survey, consider a communication strategy that focuses on your staff. Your investment of time will positively impact your staff and your results.

And if you need help, please contact me at smays@impactpracticeconsultants.com.