Team ORGANIZATION & HIRING Pearls
If you want the IDEAL Team Organization,
you might find the “Team Organization & Hiring Kit” of value.
Are you overstaffed, but seem to be understaffed because your team is poorly organized? If so, knowing what your staffing needs (based on your FS/D) may help. Full Starts/Day (FS/D) = Total Year’s (Full & Ph-II Starts) + (.35 x Ph-I & LIM Starts) divided by Total Tx Days/Year Example: [(100 + 20) + (.35 x 43)] divided by 180 = 0.75 FS/D If considering staffing changes you might find the Ultimate Organization & Hiring Kit of value to create the best team for you.
Do you have problems negotiating salaries? Does your team get upset when new staff make more than they do. It can all be resolved with one simple approach. Once you decide you really want that person, the next step is to negotiate her salary and benefits. Everybody has a minimal salary they won’t go below—but if it’s higher than you are willing to pay—it doesn’t mean that you can’t hire her. The negotiating secret—give her the higher salary she wants, but defer it until she can prove that she’s worth it. For example, if she wants $25/hour and you are only willing to pay $20, suggest accelerated salary increases. Start her off at $20/hr, raise it to $22/hr…
Have you heard of other doctor’s staff members embezzling? Are you sure that your practice is safe from embezzlers? This Management Pearl can help you evaluate your practice and put your mind at ease. This pearl provides a painless vaccine for what seems to be an epidemic: embezzlement of funds in orthodontic practices, even with computerized financial control. It is difficult to determine the full extent of embezzling, since the embarrassed embezzled, prefer not to talk about it. However, a good guess would be that many practices may be unaware that they were/are being embezzled. The embezzled funds can vary from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars embezzled over many years. All embezzlers are…
Are certain staff members destroying your team morale? Does this low morale still exist even when you get rid of them? If so, your practice is suffering from a dismorale virus that this management pearl can help vaccinate you against it. A practice is made up of its doctors and staff, who act as a team for the good of the patients and practice. But, you need to be aware that sometimes certain individuals are out for themselves to the detriment of the team, practice and patients. There are numerous symptoms, as there are certain cures, of this virus that you should be aware of that are provided in the attached PDF. Also attached is a “Disciplinary/Warning and…
Do you allow “final” applicants to do position work to “see what they can do”? Do you expose “final” applicants to bloodborne pathogens? If so, you are opening yourself up to a possible law suit or legal action! This pearl can help you avoid that. When getting down to the final one or two applicants in the hiring process it is valuable to have the applicant go to lunch with the team to get acquainted, or to observe the clinic and clerical areas to see what it is like to work there, but it isn’t a good idea to get them involved. Some practices unwittingly have the new clinical applicant “get into the thick of it” and tie…
Do you know each of your team member's daily responsibilities? Do each of your team members know what they are responsible for daily? Does your team manage itself—not requiring you to make their daily decisions for them? If your answers are all "yes"—great—if not, this pearl may help. Whether you realize it or not, "automatic practice management" is what most practices desire. It means that a practice can run itself, without the doctor having to make every decision throughout the day. It is based on the principle that there are levels of decision making, starting from the doctor who makes major decisions, to the Team Coordinators who make decisions the doctor need not make, to the rest of the team…
Do you know what makes a team leader? Do you have leaders on your team? Do you want team leaders on your team? Maybe this pearl can help. A team is “a group of independent people working interdependently for the good of the patients”. There are three types of team members…not all are team leader material: Independent team members take responsibility for their successes and do whatever it takes to correct their failures—they can become successful team leaders. Dependent team members don’t take responsibility for their lives, typically blaming others and the situation for their failures—they don’t make successful team leaders. Interdependent people help each other perform their tasks (for example, when assisting the doctor with patient treatment)—they can…
Do you have team members that need to be replaced? Do you find it difficult to replace them? Do you know how to replace them? Maybe this pearl can help. WHY replace a team member: They are disruptive, reducing team morale and possibly running off patients They can’t do all of the procedures in their position and can’t or don’t want to learn They are no longer needed in that position and there is no other position for them to work in Every doctor feels bad about taking away someone’s livelihood, even when they are disruptive, but sometimes it must be done for the good of the practice and its patients. And it isn’t easy to…
Do you have a current Office Policies Manual? Is it fair to your team? Does it protect the practice from staff abuse? Maybe this pearl can help you answer these questions. It may seem strange, but many practices don’t have an office policies manual at all, much less a current one…not a good idea! Most office policies are created when something goes wrong and the practice doesn’t want it to happen again…again, not a great way of controlling team member problems—you need to be more proactive. Policies don’t only apply to team members in the physical office; they apply to team members on trips (in town and out of town) for the practice—set those policies or you could…
How to Create & Maintain your Dream Team. See attachment.
Is your practice productive and are your team members busy? Do you know how to keep them busy when the doctor is not in the office? Do you have a contingency plan for when you will be out of the office for an extended period of time? If so, this management pearl may help. Running a successful practice is not easy, especially when it comes to keeping your team productive or busy. Practice-wise, staff account for about 20-30% of your overhead and it is a shame to waste it. Team-wise, staff should not be hectic or board, but instead, have a smooth, productive day. The best way to accomplish this is to have a well-designed schedule that utilizes…
Do you know what an effective team is? Do you think that your practice has an effective team? If unsure, you might find this pearl effective in determining that. WHAT IS A TEAM? The dictionary defines a team as “a group of individuals organized to work together”, which is not helpful for our purposes. A better definition might be: “a group of individuals effectively working together with the same purpose”. And in a health care practice that purpose would be: “to provide the patients with the best possible care in a safe, positive environment staffed with team members who love the patients and love working together”. Unfortunately, this doesn’t just happen because we want it to; it…
Are your lab appliances being ordered properly? Are they all arriving at the chair on time for the patient’s appointment? If not, maybe this management pearl can help. Whether you use an in-house or outside laboratory to make your active auxiliary appliances, plastic aligner appliances and retention appliances, you need a laboratory control system to make sure that they are available at the chair when the patient arrives for their visit. A laboratory control system requires designated people to make it work. It can be as simple as one lab tech in a one-office practice or it can be as complicated as involving many people in a multi-office practice using in-house and outside labs. But no matter what…
Do you have situations with guarantors or patients that are difficult to deal with? Do you have situations with referring dentists that are difficult to deal with? Do you have situations with staff or associates that are difficult to deal with? Or do major decisions about your practice seem to take forever? If so, maybe this pearl can help. Over the past five decades my clients have asked me countless questions about how to handle perplexing situations in their practices. After listening to their comments and questioning them to fully understand the situation, I ask them one simple question and wait for their response. "What is Best for the Patient in this situation?" This simple question contains the…
Have you established your Dream Practice yet? Have you overcome the many perils to establish it? Maybe this 7-part series will help you establish it. This 7-part management pearl series will be done in videos. Click on the video below to watch it. I hope that this video series helps you to better complete your Dream Practice Odyssey. Dream Practice Odyssey Part 1 View more of Your Practice Odyssey Videos Your Practice Odyssey - Part-1: The Perils of Staffing Your Practice Odyssey - Part-2: The Perils of Hiring & Training Your Practice Odyssey - Part-3: The Perils of Marketing (TC) Program Your Practice Odyssey - Part-4: The Perils of Scheduling Design…
Have you established your Dream Team yet? Have you overcome the many perils of hiring them? Have you overcome the many perils of training them? Maybe this 2nd part of the 7-part series can help. Dream Practice Odyssey Part 2 View more of Your Practice Odyssey Videos Your Practice Odyssey - Part-1: The Perils of Staffing Your Practice Odyssey - Part-2: The Perils of Hiring & Training Your Practice Odyssey - Part-3: The Perils of Marketing (TC) Program Your Practice Odyssey - Part-4: The Perils of Scheduling Design Your Practice Odyssey - Part-5: The Perils of a New Office Your Practice Odyssey - Part-6: The Perils of a New…
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Dr. Bellavia’s Customized orthodontic consulting services will provide you with true "Doctor-Time Scheduling "
…not being in two places at the same time
…not wasting the doctor’s time waiting to be needed.
