Physician's Practice - November 2008 - (Page 57)

TECHNOLOGY HR IN A BOX? BY ROBERT ANTHONY USING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE HR MANAGEMENT IN YOUR PRACTICE Most practices don’t spend much time thinking about human resources. If you have a small number of employees, you really shouldn’t have that many HR issues, right? Wrong. Letting HR issues slip can be bad news for your practice. In the worst case it can prompt a lawsuit from a disgruntled former employee, but even in the best cases it can mean chaos and confusion in your working environment, which can lead to high turnover rates. The good news is that there are solutions to your HR dilemmas, and some of them are available right out of a box containing customizable software. Just as an EMR can help streamline work flow with patients, technology is available to better manage staff and reduce turnover. TAKING THE FIRST STEP The ﬁrst step in getting help is admitting you have a problem, and nowhere is this truer than in HR. IN SUMMARY Many practices don’t think about HR issues until they become problems, but proper management of human resources can save both time and money, especially when it helps with employee retention. A variety of software solutions can help practices of any size manage different aspects of HR, including: • Time and attendance • Payroll • Health and retirement beneﬁts • Training and licensure • Employee records WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM Just because you have a small number of employees, or your practice doesn’t have a dedicated HR person, doesn’t mean your practice isn’t dealing with HR issues and paperwork on a daily basis. “Historically, if there is not a dedicated HR person, usually the person who has been doing the record keeping for the HR function suddenly ﬁnds themselves in that position,” says Jana Abrams, human resources and marketing director for Atlantic Urological Associates and president of the Human Resources Society of MGMA. Generally that person is the ofﬁce manager — and the ofﬁce manager often is overwhelmed. Consequently, HR matters tend to get a minimal amount of attention. Don’t live in denial about the amount of paperwork and drudg- ery that HR issues can generate for your practice. With time and attendance sheets, health and retirement benefits, keeping current with licensure, and managing employee records, there’s hardly any time to deal with serious issues such as getting a new hire settled in or taking disciplinary actions when needed. And that’s not even counting payroll! If your practice doesn’t have an HR plan, then it deﬁnitely has an HR problem. BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING “I think most people tend to choose time and attendance programs to implement ﬁrst because they feel that it directly impacts the bottom line,” says Abrams. That’s especially true for practices like Atlantic Urological, which has NOVEMBER 2008 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | 57 http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physician's Practice - November 2008

Physician's Practice - November 2008 Contents Death of Solo Practice Just a Myth Letters HSAy What? Noteworthy Finding Lost Revenue: The Search for Billing and Coding Gold Getting More: Our Annual Physician Compensation Survey ’Tis the Season to be Neutral Ask the Experts Evaluating Paperless Labs HR in a Box? The Guide Coding Third-Party Audits on the Rise Branding the Cash-Only Practice Intra-Office Tug-of-Wars Stickin‘ Up For Yourself Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physician's Practice - November 2008

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