Practice Management Alert

How to make sure all employees get training they can bring back to benefit your practice.

Every employee at your practice, from the doctors to the administrators to the billers, needs training. Yes, Continuing Education Units (CEUS) are required for some positions to maintain certifications or licensing. But even if they’re not, there are still very good reasons you should be investing in continuing education for your staff.

Running a medical practice is a dynamic endeavor. What worked five years ago — or even last year — may not work today. Besides the clinical advances and new technologies, there are coding updates, practice management techniques, tips on working with payers, and new compliance requirements that can actively grow your revenue. No matter your specialty or staff member position, everyone can benefit from learning updated best practices, new skills, and the latest trends in their fields.

Get Maximum ROI

One of the easiest ways to get employees what they need and what your practice needs is to send them to a conference. It’s also a great morale booster, creating camaraderie and enhancing a sense of working as a team. But conferences cost you big, once you add up tuition, travel expenses, and staff time away from your practice. How do you make sure your investment in your staff’s education pays off? If you’ve attended industry conferences over the years, you’ll recognize these two types:

The High-ROI Conference Attendee: She arrives 10 minutes early to an 8:30AM class so she can grab a front-row seat. Her notepad contains a list of carefully selected speakers for that day. She chooses this class because last year, she learned payer-negotiating techniques that helped her increase the value of her practice’s contracts, and she’s searching for more great ideas like that.

The Low-ROI Conference Attendee: He slips into the classroom somewhere between the fourth and fifth slides. He forgets to silence his cell phone, and a call interrupts the presentation. He sits in the back row, ready to duck out early if it gets “boring.” He may even be nursing a hangover from the night before. He will return to his practice with the CEUs he needs, but very little else.

So how can you get the best return on your investment? Here’s how to make sure your staff brings home takeaways that benefit your practice:

1. Vet your opportunities.

Make sure the courses at the conference you choose will help the staffer do their job better. Most conferences list the educational courses on offer a few months prior to the event, so you can peruse them carefully and even check the speakers’ backgrounds. Consider not only what will be taught, but how it will be taught. Some conferences are stronger on some topics than others. Some are great for entry-level employees, and some are more advanced.

If you’re not sure about a conference, try asking a colleague. You might even call the conference organizers with questions. They’re trying to sell you the conference, of course, but it’s in their best interest to answer your questions honestly so that you and your staff have a good experience.

2. Have staff make their case.

Before you give employees the green light to attend a conference, ask each individual to submit a simple, one-page proposal that estimates attendance costs and lists the benefits of attending that conference. You can fine-tune the budget and goals later, but this step sets the stage for employee accountability. If your staffer clearly understands that your practice is spending $2,000 on her education, for example, she’ll likely try her best to show you she’s worth the investment and will get more out of the experience.

3. Be a role model.

If you are attending a conference along with your staff, make sure they see and understand that you are doing the same things that you are asking them to do. You’re planning, learning, and thinking about how what you learn can benefit your practice. If you’re not attending, pick a reliable person to lead the group while there.

4. Plan your course schedules.

A few weeks before you attend, have employees share their planned class schedules with you. This step ensures that employees have reviewed their options and selected the experiences they think will benefit them and the practice the most. Let them know that you want them to emerge from the conference with concrete actions they will take to benefit the practice.

5. Prepare.

If employees are attending a conference for the first time, help them know what to expect. Describe what people wear so they don’t feel out of place and can focus their energy on learning. Remind them to wear comfortable shoes. Make sure they have business cards if they need them. Let them know when and where you want them to huddle during the conference.

6. Don’t forget safety.

Conferences are often held in fun, busy locations — Las Vegas, New Orleans, even Hawaii. Because they’re surrounded by other professionals, tourists, and sales people (if the conference is connected to a trade show), your staff could be lulled into a false sense of security. Don’t let conference excitement and after-hours activities overshadow basic safety rules and common sense:

• Make sure everyone has one another’s contact information.
• Remind staff that their wallets should contain identification and their health insurance cards.
• Remind staff that when checking into the hotel, they can request a room location that makes them feel safer—i.e., closer to the elevators.
• Use the “buddy system” and make sure no one walks alone in unfamiliar areas or late at night.
• Never let cost undermine safety. Make sure staff knows they can always hail a cab or get an Uber, and you’ll cover the expense.
• Drinks sometimes flow freely at group dinners or conference events. No one should be drinking so much that their judgment is impaired—even if they’re not driving.

7. Divide and conquer.

Splitting up your staff ensures that someone from your practice covers everything that’s offered. You also open up your staff to new experiences and perspectives if you remove them from the same pack of people they work with every day. If they’re on their own for at least part of the conference, they’re likely to learn more from instructors, classmates, and exhibitors.

8. Huddle.

Effective managers huddle with staff at a pre-determined meeting place to help them process what they’re learning and think about how to apply what they’ve learned once they’re back at work. Aim to huddle with staff twice each conference day. Most managers huddle at breakfast, lunch, or one after-class beer.

Tip: Ask them not just what and why, but how. When they return to work, how will they implement what they’ve learned and test whether it benefits the practice?

9. Don’t forget the ‘souvenirs.’

Remind staff to collect handouts and tools from the sessions they attend so that you have something to refer to later. Some conferences will allow attendees to download course materials beforehand. This allows staff to focus on taking good notes about what the speaker says, rather than furiously copying what’s on the speaker’s PowerPoint.

10. Debrief.

Once you’ve returned, ask staff to list the actions they will take to be more effective and benefit the practice. Consider how information gleaned from the conference could align with your practice’s strategic goals. Revisit the list regularly with them over the next few months to track progress and outcomes. You might ask staff to teach concepts they’ve learned to other staffers in short presentations, and to share results of what they’ve tried. Debriefing is crucial because it helps ensure that your team applies what they’ve learned to their work every day.