Tag Archives: manager

The Time I Asked a Doctor The “Who” Question?

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woman multitasking in a chiropractic office

What is the who question?

It was at a large seminar. Maybe Parker, maybe a state convention, I don’t recall for sure. I was talking with some doctors I knew in the hallway when one of the sessions ended. The doors opened, and the doctors who attended the presentation began pouring out of the conference room. One of them joined us.

He eagerly discussed some new promotional projects he heard about in the session. He also said that he learned some new approaches to scheduling and billing. I was interested, so I asked him some questions. Once hearing about the ideas, I said that they sounded good.

But then I asked the WHO question: “Who is going to implement these new projects?”

He looked at me, suddenly changing his demeanor as if I had insulted him by asking him such an obvious and stupid question, and he walked away.

True story. But hey, that’s what we do at PM&A: ask the tough but obvious questions.

Time and time again, we have seen doctors and staff come back from seminars with useful information that never gets applied. And there is a reason for this.

THE MISSING “WHO”

The missing WHO is your manager.

Many practices do not have a functioning manager. And for those offices that do, their manager is usually not operating as fully as they could.

Every practice, whether large or small,  has a set of departments or roles. Minimally, these include:

  • front desk
  • billing and collections (patient accounts)
  • and the clinical services of the doctor or provider.

Beyond these, there is a boatload of other tasks that fall outside of the front desk, billing, and doctoring. Who does these? Who organizes these? Usually, the business owner, who is also the doctor, does.

Dealing with these tasks can take up valuable time and energy. And this is expensive. It costs more than most business owners realize. What is a clinical hour worth? $500, $1,000, $2,000. Having the doctor spend time on non-clinical or non-growth-oriented leadership projects is expensive!

There are so many benefits for a practice to have a manager that I have long considered why doctors and business owners don’t create and invest in this position. Even on a part-time basis, it makes practical sense.

I think these are some of the reasons:

  1. Reluctance to delegate: Starting a practice as an entrepreneur, many practice owners are accustomed to handling all aspects of their business themselves and may find it difficult to relinquish control over certain tasks and responsibilities.
  2. Lack of awareness: Some practice owners may not fully appreciate the potential benefits and return on investment that a skilled manager can bring to their practice.
  3. Misconceptions and uncertainties about the role: Is the manager our billing assistant, our accountant, or a glorified assistant? Can my spouse or daughter be the manager? What are their job duties?
  4. Overestimation of current efficiency: Business owners might believe their current operations are running smoothly enough without a trained manager.
  5. Concerns about team dynamics: when someone takes on the role of manager improperly, they can disrupt the team’s harmony.

And especially,

  1. Where can I train my staff member to be a skilled manager?

Because of these reasons, and a few more, we have launched our manager training program. I encourage all practice owners to create the manager position in their practice and then support it. If you are ready, I encourage you to consider our manager training program.

Our program starts the week after Labor Day and is filling up. Let us know if you are interested, and let’s talk soon.

Ed

“Based on our largest global study of the future of work, Gallup finds that the quality of managers and team leaders is the single biggest factor in your organization’s long-term success.”

It’s the Manager, by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter

Do You Want More New Patients? Use a Checklist! Here is How.

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Around the year 2000, I published the Marketing Manager System. It was initially a series of binders (3) to help chiropractors with their marketing. I received many compliments and positive reviews from both doctors and staff on how it helped them. Palmer Chiropractic College ordered a few hundred of the binders.

A couple of years later, I converted it into a software program and sold it as a CD package you could install on your computer. After a couple of years, I had to shelve the product. I was not set up to stay current with the constant changes in both software and the Internet.

Still, the information is sound, and it continues to work. Much of it is on our PM&A Member’s site, and though the graphics are somewhat outdated, the fundamentals still apply.

One of the motivations for publishing the Marketing Manager System was to solve a simple marketing challenge almost every practice we worked with had. In fact, the problem was so simple that it is almost embarrassing to explain.

We would get a call from an office requesting “something” to “get their new patients up.” “Got an ad that is working?” would be a typical request.  And we would often hear this after working out an effective marketing plan that had been working for months at generating more new patients.

“What happened to your new patients? They were doing very well, even increasing,” we would ask. But when we checked if they were still implementing the marketing plan we had worked on, the usual answer was “no.”

We would go over the action steps on the marketing plan with them. “Are you still doing X?”  “Umm, no, guess we forgot about that.”  “Are you still doing Y?” “Oh yea, well, the staff member in charge of that took on another role so she couldn’t do Y anymore.”

You get the idea.  What worked gradually gets abandoned.

So, I came up with the Marketing Checklists. These were a comprehensive list of marketing procedures, several hundred all told. They were a compilation of marketing procedures that we had used or had seen others use effectively. The idea was that by using the Marketing Manager System, the office would put together its own customized marketing checklists using ours as a template and reference.

This brings up the subject of checklists. In 2009, a surgeon named Atul Gawande wrote a book about checklists called The Checklist Manifesto. Here is a relevant section from his book:

“What is needed… is discipline. Discipline is hard — harder than trustworthiness and skill and perhaps even than selflessness.

We are by nature flawed and inconstant creatures. We can’t even keep from snacking between meals.  We are not built for discipline. We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail. Discipline is something we have to work at.

Good checklists, on the other hand are precise. They are efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations. They do not try to spell out everything–a checklist cannot fly a plane. Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps–the ones that even the highly skilled professional using them could miss.

Good checklists are, above all, practical.”

By the way, I cover this in my new book, the Goal Driven Business scheduled to come out in early 2021. I have learned how to make these checklists more practical and, well, Goal Driven!  (I plan to update all of the Marketing Checklists into their new Goal Driven version next year.)

So, from the archives stored away since 2000, enclosed is one of the 13 marketing checklists from the Marketing Manager System. This one is on Patient Referrals.  It lists just a few procedures you can use to help generate more patient referrals. Of course, there are many more, and I recommend you make your own checklist and review it every 3 – 4 months.

And that is the key: keep marketing procedures that are working – working.

To help you do this, list them on a checklist and review the checklist regularly to ensure that they are still occurring. Use the checklist like an assessment. Look at each successful marketing action and ask: “Did this get done all the time, some of the time, or oops! Hardly at all.” Make sure all marketing duties are assigned. Then, where needed, improve them.

Stay Goal Driven and help your patients do the same!

Ed

Download the The Marketing Checklist on Patient Referrals.

5 Levels of Administrative Support in a Chiropractic Office

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Someone in your office needs to be responsible for the administrative duties that fall outside of the usual functions in a chiropractic office of:

  • Front Desk
  • Patient Accounts
  • Hallway/Therapy.

This someone is usually the chiropractor – at least at first. But as the practice grows there is more administrative work to do. The doctor can do it, of course, but he or she should be spending time on adjusting patients and building the office.

The smart doctor knows this rule:

Do what you do best,     
And delegate all the rest.

Some offices have a chiropractic assistant that is called an “office manager.” The role of the office manager is often vague and the duties are varied.  Usually the “office manager” has had very little, if any, management training.

The growth of the business will eventually stall because of this.

Most chiropractic team members are bright and industrious and whoever is assigned the role of office manager usually does her best for the office. Unfortunately, this is not enough in most cases for the office to achieve its capacity and goals.

In 2013 we will be launching a number of new office manager training programs to help doctors and office managers achieve their full potential.

In the meantime, the chart below may help clarify the general range of duties of an office manager. It lists an approximate hierarchy of responsibility for someone delegated by the doctor to perform administrative functions.

A staff member who has another job in the office, for example, front desk, may take on a part time role of Administrative Assistant. As the office grows, she could take on more responsibilities as the Administrative Coordinator, and then finally as an Office Manager. She may have to delegate some of her front desk duties to give time for the extra admin work she now has.

The titles below are intended to demonstrate that there are different levels of administrative responsibility and are not exact.  Your office might just need an admin assistant.

However all doctors need to delegate their management and administrative duties and more offices than not, suffer for lack of well trained and effective office managers.

5 Levels of Administrative Support

Administer = from Latin administrare, from ad- + ministrare to serve, from minister, servant

5. Practice Manager – Similar to a general manager. This role is for a larger office with 15 or more staff.

4. Office Manager –  About 5 hours per week or more, but takes on a majority of the administrative duties and some of the management functions. Supports the staff and the doctor to give better service. Is accountable for office growth and performance.

3. Office Coordinator – Works 5 hours a week on administration. Helps the doctor with management duties, including human resources (hiring, training, etc.), marketing, coordinates with the staff on training, marketing, and other special projects.

2. Administrative Coordinator – Works about 3-5 hours a week on administration. Clerical duties, some important. Helps the doctor with management duties, including human resources, marketing, etc.

1. Administrative Assistant – Works about 3 hours a week on administration. Mostly clerical duties.

February Freedom Webinars

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Freedom PackageThis is an invitation to get your motor running — and to head out on the Freedom Highway…

We have three webinars this month designed to help you get free from financial and staff stresses, and free to follow your own dreams.

You know…as long as you provide good clinical care, then all you need is effective marketing, a motivated team, and good leadership.  Just three – to be free.

So many of our offices have been surging forward over these last several years and recent months — because they have provided better leadership, team building, and marketing.

Hop on the Freedom Highway with us… and take your patients with you as well. They too want to be free … free of pain and poor health.

FEBRUARY WEBINAR SCHEDULE


**February 9th, Thursday,  at 12:30CT, we start off with a training webinar on management and team development. We will be discussing how to hire the right team member.

How To Hire The Right Team Member

  • How do you know if you really need more help?
  • How do you promote for another staff member?
  • What traits are best for what position?
  • What about different personality types?
  • Screening and the interview
  • The first 30 days
The presentation is approximately 30 minutes followed by a 30 minute panel discussion with two long time professional C.A. office managers.

**February 16th, Thursday, 12:30CT, we focus on tools and tips for marketing your services.

“Marketing Tools and Tips”
  • How to make Earth Day your Day
  • Powerful internal marketing scripts
  • Report of findings trick
  • Setting up Community Events (Next Month -Lots more on this subject, including screenings)

The presentation is approximately 30 minutes followed by a 30 minute panel discussion.

**February 23rd, Thursday, 12:30 CT, a special Executive Briefing

just for clinic owners.

Executive Briefing: Case Study of one doctor’s attempt to grow his business. What he did right, wrong and what you can learn from his journey.
  • We will show the graphs, report on the personnel, clinical and marketing changes, and tell you what happened and why. An inside look.
  • Learn from others mistakes and success.
The presentation is approximately 30 minutes followed by a 30 minute panel discussion with other doctors.

How to Register

For guests, you may register for all three of these webinars, plus full access to our extensive practice building library for one low introductory fee of $250/mo for all classes.

Guest Registration Form

For all active PMA clients register immediately for these classes at: Active Client Registration.  (Register for each webinar separately. You will automatically receive your special log-in access number where you can participate via computer, or by telephone only.)

If you’d like more information visit our website HERE, or contact Linda via email at Linda@pmaworks.com, or call her at: 888-762-8808  

 

You can also download a calendar for upcoming webinars: LINK 

 

Hope to see you at our trainings and briefing.

Ed

Freedom Package Webinars for 2012

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INTRODUCTION

For 2012, we will be offering an ongoing program of training and support for chiropractic marketing managers, office managers, and chiropractic doctors as CEO’s.

We are calling this the Practice Freedom Package. Its purpose is to help free the office from financial concerns, day to day managements worries, and give it the freedom to follow its greater purposes.

Over the years we have observed that the key barriers to achieving practice success are organizational.  The barriers do not lie with chiropractic. It is not a matter of chiropractic failing the office, but the office failing chiropractic.

These failings occur as a practice grows beyond its ability to effectively manage itself.  The capacity restraint ultimately stems from the doctor who is too busy doctoring to run her growing business.

This package of webinars and services is designed to help the doctor and the office overcome these organizational limits.   More information about how and why this program works can be found on by following the link below.

FREEDOM PACKAGE WEBINARS: COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

♦♦♦♦♦ Chiropractic Practice Marketing Webinar♦♦♦♦♦

When. The 3rd Thursday of each month at 12:30 Central Time.

Description. You will learn principles and accompanying action steps which will help you generate new patients from other patients, from external sources, as well as reactivate former patients and better retain the ones you have.

Each webinar will cover at least 4 practical marketing procedures that are effective in generating more patients.

Who should attend. Designed particularly for chiropractic marketing coordinators and managers, doctors and office managers.

♦♦♦♦♦ Chiropractic Practice Management  Webinar♦♦♦♦♦

When. The 2nd Thursday of each month, 12:30 Central Time.

Description. You will learn fundamental principles of management with specific applications to managing a chiropractic practice and business.

Each webinar will cover at least 3 practical action steps to improve individual and group performance, efficiency, and productivity. Also, tips on working with your doctor and how to provide more support for her or him as a doctor and as the CEO.

Who should attend. Designed for office managers, practice managers, and doctor owners

♦♦♦♦♦  Executive Management Webinar♦♦♦♦♦
The Doctor as a CEO

When. Starting in February, the 4th Thursday of every other month, 12:30 Central Time.

Description. Using actual case studies for examples, we will see what worked and what didn’t for doctors and their teams.  We will uncover the basic principles of effective leadership and management in case and see how to translate this to your business.

This is training on how to be a prosperous CEO.

Who should attend. This is only for doctors who own their own business.

♦♦♦♦♦ Discussion Group/Share Session♦♦♦♦♦

After the presentation is over, we will open up the group for those who want to stay to ask questions and also to offer their experiences and advice to share with others.

This is often the most popular part of the program as other professionals really want to hear your stories and ideas. So, hang around and share and get to know your fellow teammates from other areas of the country. (Must be ready to contribute and share a successful procedure.)

♦♦♦♦♦ Follow Up Materials♦♦♦♦♦

After the presentation is over, you will receive an email with a link to a private vault of marketing materials referred to in the most recent webinar.  There will also be a short summary of our discussion. Additionally, attendees will have access to our private Practice Marketing and Management Library of information and customizable tools for practice building which you can use in your practice.

♦♦Calendar of Classes [Link]

♦♦More information about how and why the Chiropractic Practice Freedom Package (Lots more info here, though not complete.) . Link