Medicine and the Environment
MANAGING YOUR MANAGER Debra Phairas Compensate Accordingly Don’t be pound-foolish. Survey local practices of similar size for salary ranges, and access industry-specific salary survey comparables that break down administrator/manager salary ranges by size of practice, revenues and other factors. www. salary.com and www.mgma. com are resources.
Physicians find it challenging to supervise practice managers as they often fail to adequately assess their abilities during the initial hiring process. As a result, many physicians engage the help of consultants when recruiting and hiring for this position.
“Managing is like holding a dove in your hand. Squeeze too hard and you kill it, not hard enough and it flies away.” —Tommy Lasorda
Traits of an Effective Manager An effective manager is a leader; someone who has the capacity to monitor the various facets of managing a practice. This person: • Should possess a sound understanding of practice operations, • Must be driven to accomplish practice goals and • Must have a vision. In addition to these attributes, an effective manager is an excellent relationship builder and communicator: one who can facilitate information exchange and partnerships throughout all facets of the practice. While managers cannot be expected to be adept in all the areas they manage, they should be able to lead the team to perform optimally, while creating a cohesive work environment. Hence the most important attribute of a good manager is being a good leader: someone who inspires the team to perform to their fullest. Hire the Best! Good managers must have managerial talent, mutually respectful staff relationships and the ability to “manage up” effectively with their physicians. A skilled and effective manager can “pay” for their salary many times over by saving or making the practice money, so invest wisely. Often, practice managers start in other areas of a practice, such as in the clinic, in billing or at the front desk. Some practices have successfully promoted individuals from within the organization into management positions, while others have not. This is called “The Peter Principle” or rising to the level of highest incompetence. For this reason, careful consideration and evaluation of the potential candidate and their skills must be made. Furthermore, reevaluation of practice needs must be made periodically, as growth occurs. In some instances, a practice manager will be successful when the practice is small but will fail to grow or increase skill levels with the practice. 34
SAN FRANCISCO MARIN MEDICINE
Set Expectations Before hiring a candidate, set specific expectations and boundaries. Determine the areas of the practice that you want to be involved with and the responsibilities and authority completely delegated to the manager. For example, many physicians completely delegate human resources and operational issues to the manager but remain involved in other areas such as strategic planning, considering a new provider, opening/closing offices, marketing, web site content, equipment purchases, EHR, and other IT decisions. Expectations for work hours, demeanor, behavior and dress should be clearly defined in writing. They should include such requests as: • Greeting staff members each morning. • Team huddles to build relationships with staff and to plan the day. • Monthly or quarterly meetings to proactively manage the practice.
Define Success Frequently managers perceive a lack of realization or attention to their accomplishments. It is imperative that physician owners set time-defined objectives, which meet owner needs and challenge the manager and track progress. Both the physician and the administrator must agree on ideally quarterly goals/objectives for the practice or the manager’s professional growth in writing. This document will become the outline of goals for their annual performance review. Provide Professional Tools Most managers cannot directly supervise more than eight staff members effectively. Therefore, a front office, clinical or billing supervisor may be necessary to support the practice manager and avoid burnout. It is important that the owner/ physician provide this support and encourage the manager’s professional development as well. Continuing education courses keep the manager’s skills
JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021
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