Will Your ENT Staff Benefit from Updated Education & Training?
There comes a time at every medical practice or clinic when you are confronted with the fact that your staff very likely needs an update on education and training. From electronic health record (EHR) software to authorization training, the medical billing solutions available to assist your staff in growing their knowledge and confidence in all of the changes that have happened in the healthcare industry in recent years can be very valuable.
The very first step at identifying whether or not you should invest in education and training for your staff should be to hire experienced practice or hospital consultants that have a vast knowledge and experience in the field of otolaryngology. Not only do they need assistance in learning how to transition from a paper-based patient file system to an electronic program, but there are lots of other complicated systems that need to be learned.
Ongoing Training is Essential
Regardless of how long your practice has been in business, ongoing education and training is important. Brand new practices, decades old clinics – medical billing solutions are changing all the time. Training programs are great to refresh staff knowledge, prevent errors, reduce employee turnover, avoid setbacks and increase revenue. Without updated training and education by professional practice and hospital consultants, your office will never be able to grow in knowledge and ability.
Identifying whether or not your employees need additional training, support and education programs is actually rather simple. You may want to observe the following areas yourself first before contacting medical billing solutions consultants and educators, just so you have a general idea of the amount of help that you need. The next part of this article will deal with the key areas that you can observe and consider to determine whether or not your staff would benefit from education and training or if more help is needed to get back on track.
COMPUTER SKILLS – How adept are your staff members at using the computer in your office? Some may be having difficulty with new software programs, ICD-10 changes for billing and coding, require additional authorization training or have basic issues with how to scan documents and save them to patient files. One way to find out how well each staff member is able to use the computer is to utilize a computer skills proficiency test.
- If you see that some staff members require basic computer education and training or if they just need an updated skills course in the new medical billing solutions, you can address each employee on a case by case basis. Consider working with a consultant at MD Pro Solution for ideas on how to improve skills and efficiency on the computer.
- Another benefit of proficiency tests for computer skills is being able to identify the staff members that are really skilled at using the computer for medical billing solutions. Consider shifting those employees to a lead role in your office, encourage them to help other staff members who need help and support in navigating the billing system. Offer an incentive for this extra work, such as a small bonus or extra paid vacation day, to motivate staff members to volunteer for this new responsibility.
TIME MANAGEMENT – Keep an eye on staff members to see who is good at time management skills and who needs a little work. Part of the services provided by practice and hospital consultants are to help improve effectiveness and efficiency within the medical office. Not just with medical billing solutions, but also with patient care, front desk work and other administrative duties. Education and training, as well as support services, can also be provided to make improvements in these areas as they are needed.
GET FEEDBACK – Speak with your staff to find out how they are doing with the new skills they have learned and the new software for medical billing solutions, authorization training, ICD-10 changes and other important areas. Consider hosting a feedback session that invites staff members to discuss openly any problems that they are having with the newly implemented changes. Education and training is just the beginning. Ongoing support and feedback from your staff as to how things are going will help to increase employee longevity, effectiveness, efficiency and productivity all around.
Call MD Pro Solutions
If you are interested in learning more about all of the programs and services available through MD Pro Solutions with regard to education and training or support from licensed, experienced and knowledgeable consultants and educators. Our goal is to enhance the services you provide your patients while working to boost your billing revenue. Give us a call at 508-946-1665 for more information on our services or to schedule a consultation.