practice is with your staff. In my practice, we have mini weekly meetings as well as longer, more detailed monthly staff meetings. At the weekly meeting, I always have a customer satisfaction "pointer" and try to base it on a patient experience within the past week so it is fresh in everyone's mind. This pointer could be a suggestion on how to improve that experience or an affirmation of how well we handled the patient's office visit.
The monthly meetings consist of a practice strategy "tip," which usually focuses on selling techniques with our various products. I also include a section in the monthly agenda called, "What does Dr. Wesley do in the exam room?" This area highlights the multitude of tests or actions performed during the exam and an explanation of what this test tells me. I came up with this idea when I realized my staff was asking me about various notes in the assessment and plan section of my electronic medical records. I needed them to understand some of those plan items and recognized that they are not in the room with me (although it sometimes feels as though they are when we efficiently transfer patients from one office area to the other). By covering simple tests like retinoscopy, binocular cross cyl, and dilated fundus exam, my staff has a better understanding of what I do with patients.
Message Complete and Ongoing
Once your staff is educated and continually reminded of what defines your office and the message you want to send to patients, everyone should feel much more at ease in the daily functions of the practice. For instance, if one of my staffers is in doubt of how to handle a situation and there are no policy guidelines, they know that customer service is of highest priority. The staffer can now make a sound decision based on what is going to be best for the patient and the practice, all while maintaining excellent quality of care and service.
I can't stress enough how important it is to repeat your practice mantra to your staff, patients, advertisers, website creators, or anyone who projects your practice in some manner. I'm not only referring to telling people, but acting the part as well. If you hold what defines your practice in high regard, others will as well.
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