Practice Management Alert

Training and education are important components of improving staff performance, but have you ever wondered what your peers see as their areas of greatest need for training?

A recent MGMA Stat poll set out to answer that question by surveying more than 900 industry professionals. Although you might think that complex technical training would top the list, another area entirely ran away with the poll:

• 47% of respondents listed customer service as their top training need. Your staff may have spent years studying their medical or technical specialty, but perhaps no one ever trained them in the face-to- » face or remote interactions with patients that make up so much of their day.
• 20% named revenue cycle management training as their priority, and 13% said government regulation. These are the technical areas where much of professional training is focused currently.
• 12% responded that they wanted more leadership training. This is the other side of customer service; you might call it “employee service.” Physicians and practice managers don’t always get the training they need to run their business and lead their staff to better performance.
• 8% responded “other.” This also included combinations of the previous responses mentioned above.