Dr. R. A. Foxworth, FICC, MCS-P
Recently, one of my employees shared with me a Facebook post from seven years ago. Her post stated, “I am praying to find a good job, a place where I can be happy and have a long career.” This year she will be celebrating six years with us. She was our 4th full-time employee, and over the years, we have undergone many changes within the company. The one thing that has remained the same was the decision to Invest in my team through internal and external training. We have annual team training, but each of them, depending on their positions in the company and their interests, has sought out individualized training. One of our employees just completed her Certified Professional Compliance Officer Training, several others are about to embark on their Medical Compliance Specialist Training and another is getting a software certification.
Training is becoming a lost art in the business world. We live in a world where we are so busy being busy that we throw new employees, and even our existing ones, into the eye of the storm with little to no instruction on how to do their jobs, much less how to do them well. In today’s complex and compliant healthcare environment, it is imperative that we take the time to cultivate and develop the talent in our offices.
Making training a priority is a great way to lay out your expectations, improve productivity and morale. Start by picking an area for improvement at each team meeting. Discuss billing, coding, your financial policy, and patient communication. Explore out-of-office training on leadership and communication. Take your team to conventions and seminars. The older I get, the less I look forward to attending my annual convention for the mandatory CE that is needed each year until I arrive at the event. Seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and learning new techniques and processes, rejuvenates my spirit and love for this amazing profession. Letting your team experience these events with you is a great way to ignite their passion for chiropractic, too.
Don’t forget about other fundamental training resources available to your team. Your software company has training available for new employees. There are dozens of free webinars each week and if you utilize a consultant, they most likely have online training specific to new employees as well. As a ChiroHealthUSA provider, we provide training for all your new employees and 1-1 refresher training online with our team at your request. Independent training for your team is around every corner, you just need to look for it.
Employees want to do their jobs well. A lack of training in your practice can create unhappiness, lack of motivation and ultimately lead to higher turnover. Employees want to know what is expected of them and want to be given the tools to perform well. Investing in your team builds a more compliant, efficient and profitable practice. When employees are happy to be in the office, they spread that happiness to your patients. Start with a refresher training for your team by accessing the new ChiroHealthUSA conversation videos on your provider resource page.
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Why is the Discount Challenge prize amount $15,024? Because that is the average “per-occurrence” fine for Medicare inducements. That’s not $15,024 per patient, that’s not per provider, that’s PER VISIT. Stinks, doesn’t it? To us, the prize amount is worth the investment if we can help our profession better understand proper discounting.