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People are at the heart and soul of a medical practice, both in terms of the physician and staff, and their patients. Looking for the best business practices in a medical clinic can start with the employees themselves.

“Regardless of the practice specialty, we are all competing for the patient’s dollars,” said Dennis Wozniak, area representative for Physicians Pharmaceutical Corporation. “When asked what a medical clinic needs to do, I like to bring it down to the people level. Start looking at how you and your staff treat your customers, your patients.” 

To a large degree your employees are your clinic. While it is true that your patients come to see you, the quality of the interaction of your staff with your patients is just one of the many areas your people can either make or break your business. “It can be a negative experience for the patient if he or she walks in your door and staff members seem to be more focused on doing a ‘job’ rather than making the patient feel important,” said Wozniak. “A ‘hey, can I help you’ and a ‘thanks for coming in’ can go a long way in helping a patient to feel comfortable and welcomed. Encourage your staff to be friendly, pleasant and helpful.”

“Instead of merely consumers, what if we viewed our patients as honored guests, and the entrance to our clinic as our own front door?” asked Jimmy Hoppers, MD, of Physicians Quality Care in Jackson. “What if we realize they are perceptive enough to appreciate a friendly greeting when they walk through the door? Our most consistent advertising tagline has been ‘We treat you like family.’ And we often follow that with the phrase, ‘And that’s not just a slogan. It’s the way we practice medicine.’”

Make a connection with people, Wozniak said. “When is the last time your clinic called to check on a patient after a visit to see how the prescription or treatment is working? If you did, then I bet your clinic made an impression on that patient and you will see that patient again. Medical practices do not always do a good job of keeping in touch with their patients. A newsletter or an appointment reminder is a great way to keep the lines of communication open with your patient pool.”

“Before a person joins our staff, they have to buy into the three short sayings that sum up the way we do business,” said Hoppers. “The first is to treat others as you would genuinely like to be treated, and that goes for patients and co-workers. Secondly, if you see the problem, own the problem. That is, do something about any problem you see regardless of where it is, in the parking lot, the lab, wherever. Third, the presumptive answer to every question is ‘yes.’ Look for ways to accommodate each other. Go out of your way to be helpful and it will come back to you a hundred-fold, not just in a successful practice, but in a successful life.”

Albert Schweitzer said, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.” The way you treat your staff is the way they will treat your patients. You cannot ill-treat your staff, and then expect them to go forth and deliver inspired, compassionate service to your patients. What they see is what you will get. When staff members are content, they are more friendly and responsive to the needs of patients, and happy staffers improve a patients’ experience within the practice.

If you want your staff to treat your patients with respect, treat your staff with respect. If you want your staff to listen to your patients, you need to listen to them. If you want your team to report to work looking sharp, pay attention to your own grooming habits. If you want people to be on time, schedule an arrival time for yourself and be at work when the schedule says you will be.
“Honesty is always the best policy, with patients and staff,” said Wozniak. “If you are running late, let your staff know as well as your patients. That way they will understand the wait time. Everyone values their time and understands that things can happen that can cause delays. Just keep everyone informed of why.”

 

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