In many cases we spend more time developing a plan of action and yet we never actually implement the plan. Idle talk and little or no action hold us back from completing the necessary.
The importance of being proactive, should take the place of over- thinking. Reports sit on your desk while you are thinking of anything else to do that will be of no consequence, to reaching the goals that you set for yourself.
Maybe you have no goals at all and are still thinking about the magic that should take place without them. Remember, doing something to get closer to what you want is far more important than how you plan on getting it done.
Don’t take this the wrong way, planning is important, but doing eventually has to overrule planning. That is where being effective, as well as being efficient, creates a winning practice combination.
Being effective just means you are creating and taking steps to get you closer to accomplishing your goals and those goals may be completing reports, having higher patient retention, or starting a new system like doing patient orientations in your office. Being efficient means that you have specific daily procedures that are completed in the most economic and timely manner possible.
An example of efficiency and effectiveness working together is when a staff member makes recalls at the end of the day. Being efficient is making the recall, yet you are effective only as to how many patients were contacted and actually rescheduled. You too may have areas in your practice that raise the question of effectiveness not efficiency.
In your next Team Meeting, ask your staff the following questions:
Am I being productive in the practice or just acting active?
Are you, the doctor, sitting in your office between patients twiddling your thumbs or are you shuffling papers from one side of the desk to the other, thinking to yourself that you are busy?
Are you inventing things to do to avoid what you really need to do to achieve your goals for your staff and the practice?
What five priorities do I need to accomplish today so I can go home and feel good about what I have accomplished today?
There are three factors at work as to what actually gets accomplished at your office: problems, opinions, or solutions. It’s up to you to make the choice.
Generally, if we dwell on the problems, we are wasting time and time wasting has little or no significance to creating the outcome that you desire.
Some examples of wasted time:
Taking phone calls just before or during adjusting your patients.
Answering e-mails randomly throughout the whole day instead of just two specified times in the day.
Holding special, open ended staff meetings for planning discussions.
Doing a repetitive task that someone else can do, such as buying office supplies.
Letting others interrupt you while training your staff or adjusting and educating patients.
Time is a commodity that is gone once consumed.
The people you work with should be trained and empowered to make decisions and show initiative in their positions, making them accountable and responsible for what they do.
The inability of your staff to make decisions, asking your constant approval in doing their jobs, is staff empowerment failure. This takes away your time from your patients, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness it takes to build a team and a practice. To get the most out of your staff, all delegated tasks should be both time sensitive and well defined.
With all the current trends and changes in health service and health care taking place across the county, the practices that continue to improve their systems and training are the ones that will flourish. Those that do not take the future seriously, will soon be in danger of extinction due to the ever-increasing necessity to develop better documentation, provide quality care and realize that the market is changing based on the value perception of the consumer.
Which one of these factors seems to be the most prevalent in the way you manage your office? Now is the time to reevaluate what you want from your practice. We are held to a much higher standard and it is time for all of us to look at what efficiency and effectiveness really means to our profession and practices.
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Dr. Timothy J. Gay is a twenty-plus year veteran of Chiropractic health and wellness. Dr. Gay is the founder of Ultimate Practice, as well as a national speaker, an author, and has numerous CD and video products for the chiropractic profession. A highly respected and nationally recognized speaker, he holds many seminars around the country on a variety of topics. Dr. Gay can be reached at 1(866) 797-8366, or timothygaydc@ultimatepractice.com For more information on Ultimate Practice, visit their website at www.ultimatepractice.com.
