Physicians Practice - September 2008 - (Page 56) GREAT PRACTICE MAKEOVER This results in Eckerling proceeding anyway and Chatham feeling like her opinion was ignored. Eckerling’s zoomed-in approach evokes a great deal of angst in Chatham, partly because she simply doesn’t see the need for so much change, and partly because, as she notes, “[The admin staff] are the ones who have to deal with the realities of his ideas,” such as the new electronic check-in that stymies most of the practice’s senior-aged patients. There’s no right or wrong here. Eckerling’s upbeat enthusiasm for improvement is laudable; people like this can inspire the pessimists. Conversely, Chatham’s love of homogeneity can help impulsive people slow down and think things through a bit better. But such opposites only attract if both types learn to work together. Otherwise, it’s stressful chaos, a never-ending tug-of-war. The trick is to appreciate each other’s strengths, to treat each other with gentle and thoughtful respect. Certainly, Eckerling and his crew succeed in this to some degree already, or Chatham wouldn’t have stuck around for 10 years; indeed, his overall staff turnover is quite low. Still, there are some rough spots in the daily operations of this practice that, if smoothed out, would surely be welcomed by both employer and employees. One way to build this sort of relationship is for all the deciders — in this case, Eckerling, Chatham, and office manager-in-training Hoyt — to congregate for regular updates. During these meetings, they should go over the status of the practice’s list of projects. The mechanics of these sit-downs will make or break Eckerling’s resolve to improve his current methods of enacting change. Basically, people can’t listen unless they feel heard. Eckerling must resolve not to drown the others in new ideas, and when he asks, “What do you think?” he must truly listen to and reflect on the answers he gets. Yes, it’s his practice, and in the end he makes the final call, but a veteran healthcare worker and town resident is a valuable well of insider information on how changes might be received. Chatham, conversely, must strive to keep her mind open to new ideas, and resist her habit of starting at “no” and working back from there. Rather, her focus should be on helping with the decision-making process by asking targeted questions about the finances, ROI, expected outcomes, efficacy, etc., of whatever Eckerling is excited about. This will support Eckerling in seeing all the pros and cons of his (possibly) great idea. Finally, as an office manager-intraining, Hoyt’s involvement brings two benefits: She can contribute with her own ideas and questions, as well as help to smooth rough spots during these discussions, and all the while garner great experience in diplomacy — a rare and useful skill. With a little practice and effort, all can feel heard and appreciated, and a divisive relationship can easily morph into a positive and productive one that will trickle down to the rest of the staff, and then to the patients. • Shirley Grace, MA, is associate editor for Physicians Practice. She can be reached at sgrace@physicianspractice.com. READ MORE ABOUT IT! PhysiciansPractice.com has more tools to help you make more effective decisions for the health of your practice and staff. • For several useful articles on the ins and outs of adding new services to your practice, type “adding ancillaries” in the Search Articles box. • Learn why even the best ideas can be doomed to failure. Read “What Went Wrong: Why Our Great Idea Didn’t Work” in the July/August 2008 issue. • In the market for a new tech toy? Download the “Product Assessment Worksheet” from our online Tools section to help you make the right the decision. 56 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | SEPTEMBER 2008 WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM http://www.docsite.com/PQRI http://www.docsite.com/PQRI http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM
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