Physicians Practice - January 2008 - (Page 72)

CME HUMAN RESOURCES open-ended warnings such as, ‘further action will be taken’ are subject to wide, if not misleading, interpretation.” Clarity and documentation of all actions taken previous to a termination are paramount. employee and hem and haw and dance around what the decision is, even if the decision has been made.” Doing so just prolongs the inevitable, she says. If you’ve used the progressive discipline prescribed requirements, she recommends consulting an attorney well-versed in employment law to help draw them up. Levoy has come up with a list of guidelines that emphasize the importance of ﬁring an employee face-to-face (many managers and consultants also recommend that another person be in the room to serve as a witness), making the reason for termination clear and decisive, and not dwelling on the employee’s shortcomings. Simply state that the employee has not demonstrated improvement since the last review, says Levoy, and, if appropriate, express regret that you do not have a job opening more suited to that employee’s speciﬁc skill set. “Don’t apologize, don’t defend, justify, or argue,” Levoy advises. “Don’t sympathize or use platitudes like, ‘I know how you feel,’ or ‘You’ll be just ﬁne.’” Dealing with underperforming employees is a balancing act. You certainly shouldn’t be cavalier about dismissals, as this sends a bad message to the rest of the staff, creates more work and expense for you (both in covering for and replacing any ﬁred employees), and may deprive you of the services of a staffer who might improve and ﬂourish. Yet consultants and managers agree that retaining a stubbornly unsatisfactory employee beneﬁts no one. “What it does is tell everyone else that it’s OK to break the rules or make repeated mistakes or have a lousy attitude or whatever it is,” says Levoy. “Or it may be interpreted by others employees as favoritism. Either way, it builds resentment. When circumstances warrant termination, just do it.” “A lot of the time managers will sit with the employee and hem and haw and dance around what the decision is, even if the decision has been made.” JUST DO IT Deborah Martin-Norcross, attorney BEST PRACTICES Managers who determine that an employee must be terminated should have already informed the practice’s physicians — or head physician — of the decision. At this point, the practice’s physicians should also be aware of the severity of the soon-to-be-dismissed employee’s actions. While practice managers should be careful about not bothering physicians regarding minor staff infractions, “any time a practice manager sees the real potential of an employee being dismissed … is the right time to inform the physician of the events that have transpired,” says Jamison. Martin-Norcross tells managers to keep in mind that they are handling a situation in which a speciﬁc individual does not ﬁt into a speciﬁc job, avoiding the all-too-common “adversarial mindset” that can increase the likelihood that the terminated employee will sue. The decision to terminate should be clear and decisive, says MartinNorcross. “A lot of the time,” she says, “managers will sit with the 72 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | JANUARY 2008 by most consultants and managers, the employee should see the writing on the wall. The bottom line is that when an employee is to be dismissed, it should come as no surprise to either the practice’s physicians, upper management, or the employee herself. To guard against potential lawsuits, Martin-Norcross recommends that practices already have a termination policy spelled out in the employee handbook from which managers should never deviate. She also recommends asking the erstwhile employee to sign a separation agreement in which the employee agrees to leave the practice and in return is granted some considerations, such as the extension of benefits for a prescribed time period. Such agreements are legally binding and can protect physician employers from subsequent claims brought by the dismissed employee. Separation agreements need not be unduly complicated, says MartinNorcross, but to ensure that they meet federal and individual state • Barbara A. Gabriel holds an MA in English literature and is the associate editor of Physicians Practice. She has served as editor and writer for numerous healthcare publications over the past 10 years. Barbara can be reached at bgabriel@physicianspractice.com. WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physicians Practice - January 2008

Physicians Practice - January 2008 Contents The Bigger Picture: Fixing Medicaid Letters Physicians Practice Pearls: You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks Noteworthy Cover Story: Fee Schedule Survey: 2007 Results Adding Ancillaries: Bucking the Practice Ask the Experts Idealab: 'How I Got Over My EMR Excuses' Technology: Don't Be Denied The Tech Doctor: Blessing or Curse? The Administrator's Desk: Learning From the Best Coding Career: To Partner, or Not? Management: Controlling Your Inventory Human Resources: How to Fire an Enployee Finance: Beyond Reimbursment - How to Fix Your Mix Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - January 2008

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