Your day at the front desk is going along well with a lot of really nice clients or patients who are very appreciative of the terrific service and care they have received. Then suddenly, the calm and peace is ripped apart by an angry client, whether on the phone or in person. This is never
In the hundreds of practices we are in contact with per week, we get to talk briefly with a lot of Receptionists manning the front desk. Some need work, some are okay, some are good, and every once in a while, we are delighted to be talking to an outstanding individual who really cares and
Do you wish you were more fully booked? Do you have holes in your schedule? Do you ever have times of the year that are “softer” than others? Do you wish you were booked out solid for the next week or three? Many practitioners pine for more tightly scheduled days since you are paying one
One of the biggest time wasters for the staff of many practices is all the insurance issues that have to be dealt with in a day. Although less than 50% of the population has insurance coverage, it seems like a much higher percentage than that just due to the time needed to handle the associated
Snow days and ice storms. The entire city is shut down with a freak ice storm. Or you open your front door to a wall of snow. Or two feet of snow fell overnight and the plows haven’t come yet. And maybe it wasn’t even predicted. We live in Canada so we see it all
Where are those new patients you so wish would call in or walk into your practice? There are usually many thousands of potential public who need to know that you are THERE and available. Ever had someone walk in your front door and ask if you just moved in when in fact you’ve been there
Many healthcare practices suffer from the Feasts and Famines Syndrome, meaning they experience ups and downs in their monthly billings (other than those caused by vacation periods). For some professions, they even expect that and sometimes even welcome it. “February is always slow so we will take our vacation then.” However, is there a cure
Just as with staff, there are probably 50 shades of grey between “super awesome boss” and “replace please.” I was going to call this article “Good Staff, Bad Staff” but in thinking my way through it, I realized that it is the executive (owner) of the practice who is going to set the bar on
During our 3 decades of consulting healthcare practices, we have encountered and helped practices that have gotten stuck in a comfort zone … “we’ve always done it this way.” Sometimes it is like being in a time warp as the rest of the world has made excellent advancements in technology and ways to improve service
In this world of high tech communication systems, the human skill of communicating effectively with another human being is still the most valuable. As we all know, there are two sides to effectively communicating: listening and talking. Both of them are key to achieving a full understanding between two people, whether in a personal setting
Have you ever felt for a day or a week (or months or years) like throwing in the towel, ending the business, walking away, closing it down or selling it and starting something new entirely? Guess what? You’re not alone! Almost anybody has had a day or two or more when they felt like that.
As a practice owner, you have a whole new year ahead of you and instituting positive, correct changes right NOW will make it a BETTER year. It is like a blank slate. You can write anything on it you want to. Or you can do the same old, same old and have the same result
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