Week 2, Part 1 Script

Slide 1: Hello everyone, this is Sheri Putnam again, with Part 1 of our Week 2 online presentation for HC 305, Health Care Human Resource Management.

In this section, we will look at some nuances of Human Resource and Personnel  Management in the Medical Office Setting.

Slide 2: As we discussed last week, the overall goal is to create an organizational culture where employees have professional well-being, motivation and pride. This requires building strong relationships between employees at all levels of staff and management, and having an atmosphere of teamwork and collaboration. There are some special factors in the medical office setting that bring special challenges.

Slide 3: In this presentation, we will look at some of the special aspects of the medical office setting that impact personnel management: some general employee characteristics, and some common personality types.

Slide 4: The first general characteristic is Demographics: this includes things like the worker’s gender, age, marital status etc. Why are these factors important? They influence lots of things, including benefits --because older employees cost more to insure – and things like scheduling: for example, younger mothers might prefer  to work evenings or weekends because of childcare needs; sometimes older workers might like to work early mornings because they don’t like to drive after dark.  There are also employment laws issues around discrimination and other things that we’ll talk about in  the coming weeks.

Slide 5: The second general characteristic is Diversity: there is much more variation in today’s workforce. In the medical setting, we tend to see more part-time than full-time workers, and they are mostly women. We also tend to see some age extremes, with older workers who might be retired and working part-time along side of younger folks who are just out of school. More than one employee relations issue has been caused by frazzled nerves from simple generational differences … especially when it comes to perceived differences in communication styles or work ethics. Another common trend in medical offices are family ties – like other small businesses that sometimes employ relatives,  medical offices often have family members working together… it’s especially complicated when the office manager has to discipline an employee who happens to be the doctor’s wife, the son/daughter who’s filling in on a school break! And there’s also the challenge of dealing with the “almost like family” issue, the longtime beloved staff member whose skills might not be up to modern standards and has performance issues.

Slide 6: The third general characteristic deals with differences in Qualifications and Skills. In the medical office, we deal with a broad range of education and skillsets. There are obvious differences in the physicians and professionals who’ve spent decades in school and support staff who might have only basic education. And as we see new levels of professionals such as Physicians Assistants and Certified Nurse Practitioners come into the medical office, there are sometimes turf wars. It’s important to define their duties and responsibilities versus the traditional RN or LPN and techs who’ve worked there longer.

Slide 7: Common Personality Types. Because we all have distinct personalities and experiences, we need to remember there are different strokes for different folks. What motivates one person might frustrate another, so it’s helpful to recognize some common personality types that we might encounter:

Slide 8: Rational employees think logically and expect right or wrong, yes or no answers. They are not interested in experimentation, but prefer to have a good plan that they will follow to the end. They  likely have difficulty in being flexible with changing plans or demands. They also find it difficult to delegate responsibility, and taking on too much work leads them to stress and burnout.

Intuitive employees rely on their instincts and tend to be quiet and introverted. They are process oriented, focusing on each step rather than the final goal. They often raise lots of questions and can be perceived as lazy or arrogant, but this is just their work style. They do best when given specific assignments.

A Feeder is a People-person – they are extroverts who listen intently to others and empathize with them. They are very tolerant of others’ mistakes, and focus on people’s strengths rather than faults. Feeders like to be helpful and can often lower workplace anxiety – however they can sometimes be too impulsive and focused less on the work than on making everyone feel better.

Slide 9: Doers are action oriented, hate  being confined or obligated. They tend to wander when they get bored, preferring to do things on their own timeline instead of meeting office deadlines. They can be very helpful in a crisis, because they will direct their energies to the immediate task. Doers have lots of energy, but need constant attention from the manager to stay focused on the job.

Pragmatists are task-oriented, act on principle and have a real need for achievement. They can be assertive and controlling, and are often seen by coworkers as being manipulative. They usually have difficulty in working with others and do not form interpersonal relationships. They work best alone on specific tasks.

Conservators are traditionalists, following the rules and regulations. They seek respect and recognition, and  they are motivated by titles, status and position. They generally maintain excellent quality control in the workplace.

Lastly, Controllers simply want power and control.  They are goal driven, but often seen by others as being thick-skinned and impersonal. They sometimes hold onto work or tasks to retain their power, especially when change is in the air.

Slide 10: These are just some examples of common personality types, maybe you recognized some of your coworkers (or even yourself) in these scenarios? While no one fits completely into one category, it is helpful to recognize these behaviors when dealing with others. The management challenge to integrate employees into an effective innovative office staff is a big one; but when you understand the differences in personalities and work styles, it’s a lot easier.

 

Slide 11: Here are some references that we used in this week’s presentation. Now when you’re ready, move on to Part 2.

HC 305: Health Care Human Resource Management

Week 2, Part 2 Script: Cross Training and Team Building

Slide 1: Intro… Welcome back to HC 305, Health Care Human Resource Management for Herzing University Online. This is Sheri Putnam again, and in this section  we’ll talk about Cross Training, Team Work and Team Building in the medical office setting. You can print out the written script for this presentation, or take notes as we go along.

Slide 2: The learning objectives for this section of the online presentation are:  What is cross training and why is it important? How do work teams and teambuilding enhance productivity? And  What are the key elements of effective work teams?

Slide 3: First, Cross Training. In a small setting like a medical practice, an employee absence can cause havoc. Whether planned or unplanned, an employee absence can interrupt the whole office’s work flow. So it’s important to cross train employees in other functions so that they can cover any holes. The key benefit to the practice is that it ensures consistency in the office’s operations. But there are some advantages for the employees too: cross training can identify hidden talents among office employees. You might find that Mary, who has always done the scheduling and handled the phones, also has strong computer skills and can input claims data. And if Mary learns more about patient insurances, she might be better handle patient calls about their coverage.

Cross training also provides opportunities for new ideas and approaches to processes and routines… and it increases empathy and promotes teamwork by improving communication. When we understand more about someone else’s work, it’s easier to help out. It’s an all-around morale booster.

Slide 4: Next, let’s look at a definition of team work.   A team is a set of interpersonal relationships serving to achieve established goals.

In simple terms, A Team  is a group of individuals that interact  together. They form a bond through which everyone tries to work together as efficiently as possible.

Slide 5: Let’s take a look at the essential elements of an effective team:

                First, positive interdependence. This is basically the belief that everyone sinks or swims together. Positive interdependence means that each member of the team can’t succeed without the others.  In other words, one person’s work benefits the work of the others – and you can’t succeed unless everyone is doing their part.

Next, Individual accountability: each team member is accountable for performing his/her duties to the best of their ability. The  better each performs, the more successful the team.

Face to face interaction has always been important for building comraderie and respect – and technology has brought new challenges to maintaining relationships. In these days of Internet connectivity and outsourced services, you might have a team member that you’ve never met in person! A key member of your billing team might be a claims processor who works in another state, or even another country! In these cases, it’s important to maintain regular communications using email and phone discussions to keep the relationship strong. And given today’s tools for email, messaging and texting, you might even have a coworker in the same building that you might not see on person for days, yet you communicate with them hourly! Making and maintaining relationships with your team mates requires regular attention.

That brings us to the next essential element of team work, and that’s Collaborative Skills. Just as technical skills must be taught, collaborative skills must be taught and encouraged. Team members need to have the social skills for high-quality collaboration and must be motivated to use them.  Remember the personality types that we talked about in Week 1? The contrarians and the controllers sometimes have trouble working collaboratively, so managers need to be sure that collaboration is emphasized and rewarded.

The last essential element of team work is Group Processing and Brainstorming. It’s important that the team is given opportunities to identify important issues and to have input into the team’s goals and processes. Each member needs to feel engaged and valued.

Slide 6: Creating effective work teams begins with a solid understanding of the work to be done. Once you have detailed job descriptions for the various functions, you match the skills needed against the abilities of the workforce.

Individual job descriptions, at a minimum, need to include the title, responsibilities and specific duties of the position; it would also specify the educational requirements, skills and experience needed.  And it should describe the type of supervision that will be provided, and to whom the position is accountable. Even though teams are collaborative, it’s important for each employee to know who he or she reports to, who’s their supervisor where they turn for direction and help.

And for formal work teams, there should be a team job description that describes who does what, when it’s due, plans for cross training and so on.

Slide 7: One popular way to create work teams is a Functional approach.  Let’s look at a list of the typical major functions you’d find in a physician practice or small medical setting:

Billing and coding – this includes tasks related to charge capture, documentation and compliance guidelines and reimbursement issues.

Call Management – includes handling the telephones, and directing requests for medical advice, appointment scheduling, billing questions and so on.

Medical Records and Information Processing – deals with maintaining clinical medical records, transcription, copying and filing, release of information and related tasks.

Ancillary Scheduling: This involves things like getting precerts for ancillary tests, scheduling diagnostic studies and surgery, coordination of hospital admissions, and so on

Administrative Functions include oversight of the general office administration, scheduling, staffing, budgets etc.

Larger medical offices might have additional challenges, but this is a list of the most common functions that need to be filled on a regular basis. So employees should be cross trained to ensure coverage in the event of an unexpected absence or especially heavy workload. Having work teams facilitates the cross coverage process, because people become familiar with more pieces of the process.

Slide 8: To sum up the benefits of effective teamwork, it increases morale and creates a more positive work environment; this in turn leads to improved patient satisfaction. Teamwork generally makes cross training easier, and leads to better organization and more effective scheduling.  It increases productivity, and not only the quantity but also the quality of work improves.  And a happier, more productive workforce reduces expensive and disruptive employee turnover.

Slide 9: Before we move on to Part 2, a couple of special notes about team building: the team members still need care and feeding – they need to know what’s expected of them both as individuals and as team members. If you have employees who refuse to act as good team players, it’s best to replace them. While some people will respond to additional training for collaborative skills, some people are just not effective in a team setting – if an employee does not respond to training and it’s apparent that this person is not appropriate for a team, it’s best for both that individual and the organization to find another position where that individual can succeed.

And lastly, the issue of dealing with office cliques – cliques inevitably develop when groups come together, so they can’t be ignored… in fact, cliques and their communication network, the grapevine need to be managed… they can be used for good and not evil.

Slide 10: The effective medical office manager never underestimates the power of the grapevine. Gossip networks exist at every level of every office in every company. It’s usually a waste of time to try to stop the flow of information through the grapevine – but you should try to ensure that the information that’s passed around is correct, and sometimes the grapevine can have a positive impact on the office.

Let’s look at some ways to influence the nature of the office grapevine:

First, focus on informed communications – when employees are better informed, they are less likely to turn to the grapevine to fill in blanks. Regularly sharing information will decreases the grapevine’s power.  If there are no office secrets, there’s less chance of problems.

Next, being an approachable and flexible manager helps to keep office chatter down… you can “give and take” information, staying open to negotiation on points that have some wiggle room. An open door and a reputation for being consistent and fair will ensure that even the worst grapevine gossip finds its way to you -- you can confirm or deny rumors and misinformation before it gets out of hand.

Remember that performance reviews play an important part in maintaining employee feedback and communications loops. As we discussed last week, be sure to provide ongoing feedback as well as the formal annual and periodic reviews to give employees a chance to raise issues and build trust.

Lastly, there’s the formal response to an office rumor or grapevine hotspot. A written formal response is usually a last resort, but might be required to clarify important issues or reassure the workforce if you believe the rumor has gotten out of hand. You can use a written memo, or an office newsletter to quell rumors about business-related issues. If they are of a more personal nature, a formal counseling session with known grapevine leaders might be needed. Keeping communication open and letting employees know that gossip and rumors are inappropriate is important. And always remember… Managers must always stay a step ahead of the crowd and lead by good example. Never engage in office gossip or support the rumor mill.

Slide 11: So that concludes our look at Cross Training, Team Work and Team Building. As always, do some outside research on any issues that raise your curiosity, either in this online presentation, in your discussion board or written assignment… some of the references listed here are a starting place, but there’s a world of information at your fingertips in the Herzing Library or the Internet.

 

Have a great week!