In smaller offices, communication from the doctor to other staff members, whether administrative or technical, is fairly straightforward. Everyone is close in proximity and there is ample opportunity to clear up anything that might be unclear. In a larger practice or particularly a multi-disciplinary practice, this is not as straightforward. Many doctors who are directors of or participants in larger practices developed their managerial habits in smaller practices, and then find that the small-scale approach is no longer effective. You will know this in your practice when you have to repeat … [Read more...] about Communication Pipelines in the Office
Office Management
Passwords
Having a strong password for your sensitive information is a crucial part of your security set-up. Even though this is something everybody knows, it is still quite common for users to have extremely weak passwords protecting valuable and sensitive information. These range from the same thing as your username to equally absurd passwords like 12345 or abc123 or password. (That last one is a bit hard to believe, but true). Use of heavily encrypted passwords such as those suggested by your browser are virtually impossible to hack, but equally impossible to remember. Frequently visited websites … [Read more...] about Passwords
Managing Employees 2
When putting a policy handbook together, or editing an existing one, you are constantly going to be faced with looking at things through the eyes of your employee. What’s fair? What’s reasonable? How does all of this fit into what makes sense for the business as a whole? W2 vs 1099 This arrangement is fundamental to the way you structure your team. 1099 employees (also known as independent contractors) are responsible for paying all of their FICA taxes (social security and Medicare), so the temptation on the employer’s part is to see this as an immediate 9.3% tax savings and use this type of … [Read more...] about Managing Employees 2
Managing Employees
Becoming an effective manager of employees is a challenging task for every doctor, no matter the size or age of the practice. And this is not unique to heath care providers; it’s a nearly universal challenge in all businesses. Let’s explore a few simple structural pieces to be sure are in place in your practice and are actually used effectively and consistently. Policy handbook When I start with a new client, the most common response when asked to produce this is either that we don’t have one, or it’s around somewhere, but nobody pays attention to it anyway. This document is essentially the … [Read more...] about Managing Employees