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It Pays to Invest in Your Staff
By Beth Hertz, Contributing Editor |
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With today's climate of seeing patients more often for monthly injections, investing in and retaining good employees is more important to retina practices than ever before. Technicians are an essential component when it comes to keeping schedules running on time and patients happy.
Training Staff
Staff training comes in many forms, and it doesn't have to be expensive or time consuming. Dick Roy, practice administrator at Retina Center of Maine, a two-physician practice in Portland, says vendors provide a good deal of training to their staff.
"Vendors come here and hold in-service luncheons that are very helpful," he says. "Our physicians also try to hold monthly lunch meetings in which they review the specifics of technical procedures, such as preparing for injections. The staff really appreciates these learning opportunities."
Paul Lucas, practice administrator for Georgia Retina, a nine-office practice in the Atlanta area that has 11 retina specialists, says his team often "learns on the fly."
"We always work to educate staff about the drugs we're using and what their indications are," he says. "It's essential that they're familiar with all of them."
His office hasn't adopted a computerized inventory system, so the staff needs to be knowledgeable about all available medications so they can maintain an accurate accounting of what's in stock. "We encourage the techs to look at the schedule and see what each patient received during their previous visit. This way, they're prepared to meet the patient's needs upon their return," he says.
Both administrators say they send technicians to training courses outside the office when appropriate.
Retaining Staff
Keeping good staff members is also essential.
Georgia Retina helps its technicians who want to grow in their jobs by encouraging them to become Certified Ophthalmic Assistants. "We pay for the interested staff members' study course, will promote them when possible and give them a small bonus after they've completed the course," says Lucas. "We've made an investment in them, so we want to keep them. We look to them to provide leadership to others on the staff."
Offering competitive pay and benefits is another way to keep quality staff from leaving. "We work to make sure we're staying on top of the market with our salaries," says Lucas.
Paying a competitive salary also helps the practice avoid "bidding wars" if staff members receive better offers. "This can cause bad feelings by sending the message that the best way to get a raise is to threaten to leave. We prefer to stay ahead of the game by paying well, based on skill and experience," he says.
Both administrators say employers should never underestimate the value of appreciation and recognition.
"We drive our employees hard and a thank you from the physician goes a long way," Lucas says. "We try to keep the workplace upbeat too, by planning occasional outings and creating a sense of family and support."
Roy agrees. "We always try to communicate to our staff that their work is important and appreciated. Acknowledging them can be just as important to workplace satisfaction as money," he concludes.
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