Make your professional life less stressful and more profitable by setting your office on autopilot

When airline pilots feel assured that all systems are synchronized and the course parameters are in place, they switch to autopilot. The same goes for setting cars in cruise control mode. This does not mean there is less time spent focusing on the goal, but rather the predicted outcome is a safe and pleasant journey. When exploring various areas of practice cruise control, consider how you can focus and program your office toward increased ease and efficiency.

Mission Possible

Mission statement. First, create an established direction: the mission statement. Every successful business outlines clearly its theme and purpose—an office policy is the essence of your practice. The statement should set the tone and reinforce your purpose: Our office is a beacon within our community. We excel in patient care and service. Every staff member is an integral part of the matrix that creates and binds our healing and wellness environment. We will excel in our ability to educate our community on issues concerning health and wellness and provide the best chiropractic care available. This is our purpose and goal.

Staff training. The next important step is staff training. The staff is an often overlooked aspect of practice success. The trick is not only with hiring but also with training. An office may be overwhelmed because of a lack of staff, or disoriented because it is overstaffed. Besides the economics of increased overhead, underutilized staff creates inefficiency and reduces productivity.

First impressions are permanent, therefore pleasant patient interaction is integral to the success of your practice. A cross-trained staff is a tremendous asset. Proper training includes more than a few scripts and a pleasant smile. Each employee must be committed to your mission statement and appreciate why the adjustment is sacred and necessary. They must grasp the nuances of public relations and practice growth and be ready to assist you in keeping the office on a steady course.

Many of our professional consultants emphasize using scripts to anticipate responses to questions. Educated patients comply with advice and treatment and will refer others. Then why are so few doctors spending quality time with new patients, either knee-to-knee or with a variety of new patient workshops and orientations? If guilty of this missed opportunity, you are most likely spending unnecessary time convincing and reorienting active patients to maintain schedules and follow through with maintenance care.

Communication. This requires well-rehearsed staff scripts. Role-playing is crucial so that front desk, therapy, insurance, public relations, and office management assistants express your view of practice management. To feel assured that a similar message is conveyed to patients from the initial phone call to the final scheduled visit takes time and practice. As with any orchestral performance, hours of individual and collective rehearsals should be dedicated prior to the public concert. Practice and collective rehearsals should be serious but fun. I recommend setting aside time during staff meetings for role playing. Your staff will then be prepared for situations such as a patient who wants to discontinue care or working with referral concepts.

Have you ever left a room in haste mumbling an important directive to a staff member? During staff meetings, are issues discussed and ideas tossed around only to be left undone because no one wrote them down or made sure it was accomplished? If so, do not be surprised when these ideas are partially or never implemented. The end of a creative thought is when there is lack of follow-through. To run your office in an orderly fashion, all communications should be written. Requests should be noted, and action should follow. Your practice should use in-, pending-, and out-boxes. Rather than wondering whether requests or ideas have been implemented, this system creates accountability.

A practice on autopilot requires maintaining existing patients, as well as a steady stream of new ones. Never lose sight of promoting your practice. It is imperative that active procedures and policies be in place to promote both internally and externally. Designating a staff member as the community liaison ensures follow-through for various community promotions.

As Time Goes By

Time management. Efficiency begins with time management. Every moment spent looking for computer files, office forms, insurance documents, patient letters, and correcting computer glitches is time spent away from patient care and practice growth. To reduce a potential capacity problem, time management is an important step toward less stress and a more efficient practice.

A typical office can spend many hours searching through papers for misplaced files and documents, and repeatedly asking CAs to locate them. Not only does this create havoc, it results in financial losses.

Capacity management should also be considered. Ineffective time management includes spending excessive time with one patient, which results in making others wait. Your practice growth is limited by your capacity to handle the patient load. The number of staff and the physical limitations of the clinic should also be considered.

Patient management. An efficient office has built-in procedures that have stood the test of time. From the first to last visit, patients should be attended to with the utmost care and provided all avenues to learn so that they can share their chiropractic experiences. It all begins with a caring front desk CA and the forms you ask patients to complete. Are the forms complicated or obtrusive? Are financial concerns handled seriously but warmly? Do you place patient data in easily retrievable areas? Do you use a new patient check-off list? Are welcome letters, workshop invitations, referral material, and potential community resources provided?

To gather statistical data of your practice, create these forms to gather pertinent information:

• Missed appointment and drop out lists to monitor who, when, why, and what was done;

• What Now? questionnaire for patients prior to being dismissed to pique interest in maintenance care.

Seek Professional Help

Seminars and/or consultants. Corporations spend millions on continuing education seminars and consultants for their executives and administrative staff. They proactively keep updated and focused on efficiency and production. Corporate health is dependent on departmental cohesiveness for the organizational whole. When did you last attend a seminar other than your continuing education hours? Our profession has a variety of consultants and regional seminars. If your business skills are limiting growth and preventing your practice from running smoothly, it may be time to invest in professional help. Spend the time and money only if you plan to implement the training and creative ideas.

Missed appointments, rampant dropouts, and few referrals are red flags of a sick practice. As an engineer preprograms the cruise control on vehicles, successful practice management requires set parameters. Remember, a lost opportunity is lost income.

About the Author

Joel E. Margolies, DC, been in practice for 24 years in Atlanta, and was an instructor at Life University, Marietta, Ga. He is the author of four chiropractic books: Smart Start, Workshop Workbook, Chiropractic Marketing, and Public Relations and the Personal Injury Workbook. He sends a free weekly chiropractic email newsletter concerning practice management, public relations, and philosophy to more than 8,300 DCs in 31 countries. Margolies can be reached via email: joel3639@aol.com  or website: www.chirosmart.net.