The importance of in-person staff meetings
Setting aside 20-30 minutes each week to talk with members of your staff can reveal answers to many everyday problems in a practice
If no provider in your practice is leading regular meetings with your colleagues and your staff, you should start now.
Although all of us have been tortured throughout our professional lives with painful, pointless meetings, I have found this to be vitally important. You will be amazed at how the most vexing and perplexing conundra melt into pools of simplicity when you ask hard-hitting group questions such as: “Was there a problem with our phones in the last few days?”
Epiphanies abound when the clerical and the clinical congregate. (We’ve never assigned ultimate responsibility for ordering the rapid strep tests? No wonder we always run out!).
Much like the 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five times per week we recommend to all of our overweight patients, I know that not all of my suggestions will be logistically easy. But following these tips, based on years of my experience as a physician, will ultimately be gratifying as you watch your staff come together and become a better care team.
1) Have it every week: Do you know what the difference is between a minor glitch and a major crisis? About four weeks.
If you want to have your best chance at catching a practice management problem while it is still a smoldering ember rather than a catastrophic conflagration, give yourself more opportunities to find it. Corollary Tip 1(a) –Don’t cancel the meeting except under extreme duress. The importance of the meeting and its content for everyone else will in part follow from the importance they perceive it has for you. There is no better way to diminish sense a of importance than by frequent cancellations.
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