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Office Staff 2: The Other
Side of the Coin
 by Jarrod Shapiro, DPM Joined practice of John K Throckmorton,DPM,PC Lansing, Michigan July 2006 Early in the year I wrote about the importance of office staff as an integral part of the health care team. After 6 months of practice my opinion hasn�t changed � although it has been modified just a bit� As mentioned in other editorials, medicine IS a business. We want to help every person who requests our expertise, but we are limited by our own resources. For example, most wound care products are too expensive for me to use in the office, so many of my patients are sent to my wound care clinic where they may receive a higher level of care. Medical care in this case is subject somewhat to the market (i.e. I can�t afford to have silver dressings and such in the office, so patients are sent to the wound care clinic). Just as medicine is a business from the patient care standpoint, so is it a business on the staff side, and when employees cause difficulties it can become a serious struggle. If fact, many practicing physicians have told me that dealing with staff is often the most difficult part of practice. There are many matters to consider with staff, from appropriate hiring and firing practices to pay rates, benefits, vacation, and smoking policies, among others. These considerations will take up a significant amount of your time, especially if you own your own practice. In my position as an associate, I�ve grown closer with my boss and have cultivated a certain level of trust with him. Hence, I�ve been involved in some of our recent interviews to hire staff while we�re expanding the practice, and I have gotten a taste of this part of medical practice. It�s definitely not my favorite part of practice! For instance, several of our recent applicants have been dishonest during their interviews, and it isn�t until we either check their references or they start working that their dishonesty is revealed. This can be very disheartening as well as adding more work for the established staff. We recently hired a new receptionist. During her interview she was told we follow a strict nonsmoking policy in the office. What she does on her own time is her affair as long as she doesn�t bring it to work. So, of course, two days after she starts work, she�s asking our biller if the docs would be upset if she went out during office hours to have a smoke. Besides being unfair to the nonsmoking members of the staff, she was given explicit warning about this prior to her hire. I find it unlikely she�ll be with us long. As my boss says, �Hiring is definitely a crap shoot.� All we can do is try to treat our staff with as much respect as possible while maintaining an awareness of what is best for the practice as a business. Every day brings new challenges; hopefully most of them will be medically related�although that seems less likely the closer I get to partnership. Best wishes. Talk to me,
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