The last few years have caused many of us to delay our plans on professional development and turn our attention to other things to help get us through. With a new year around the corner, it's time to reset and refocus on your career.

Topics: CMOM, PMI Certification, cmom certification

As a Medical Office Manager, there are few actions as uncomfortable as firing an employee. Yet, after verbal warnings, write-ups, and other corrective actions, you know when this time has come to gather your documentation and make difficult decisions about how and when to proceed. But failure to follow proper procedures and federal guidelines could put your practice at risk of an employee lawsuit or a compliance violation. Take a look at some best practices and a termination checklist below to help you proceed professionally and safely.

Topics: Practice management, CMOM, medical office manager topics, medical office compliance, medical practice issues, personnel management

No matter where you are in your career, long-range planning and determination will help you achieve your goals faster. And if your plan includes rising the ranks in medical office management, then experience, time management, confidence, and great people skills will help you get there. Add certification in medical office management to the mix, and you've got a long-term recipe for success! 

Don't know where to start? Here are a few steps to help get you on your way to becoming a Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM). We know you can do it, so let's get you there!

Topics: CMOM, PMI Certification, medical office, medical office leadership

Two of the most common questions PMI receives about the Certified Medical Office Manager credential are, "Why do I need a CMOM certification?" and "How can I get buy-in from my provider/supervisor?"  We asked PMI faculty member, Linda D’Spain, to share her thoughts and address these specific CMOM FAQs. Whether you are just starting out on your career journey or thinking about your next career move, watch the video or read on for insider tips to get you CMOM-ready. 

Topics: CMOM, PMI Certification, medical office certification, Certified Medical Office Manager, cmom certification, CMOM FAQs

Your Family Doktors, a 25-year-old family practice in Webster, TX, faced many operational challenges over the past year as the COVID-19 pandemic sent healthcare into a tailspin. Office Manager Ashton Ardila, CMOM, CMIS, shared some of the hurdles and frustrations her team faced, and how the practice has persevered.

Topics: Practice management, CMOM, medical office certification, Certified Medical Office Manager, medical office manager topics, medical office compliance, medical office staff, administrative burdens

Practice Management Institute (PMI) and Gastrologix have partnered to develop a Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM)® certification specific to the specialty of Gastroenterology. This joint effort will provide affordable medical practice specific training and credentialing opportunities for the Gastrologix membership throughout the country. 

Topics: value proposition, medical practice benchmarking, CMOM, PMI Certification, medical office certification, Certified Medical Office Manager, medical office

You didn’t sign up to play referee or counselor to adults that don’t get along. But personality conflicts and unprofessional behavior in the workplace should not be taken lightly. It can destroy your medical office productivity, morale, and send good employees packing.

Topics: Practice management, CMOM, PMI Certification, Certified Medical Office Manager, medical office, medical office manager topics, cmom certification, difficult personalities

If you break out in a sweat when it’s time to conduct employee performance reviews, you’re not alone.  For many medical office managers, this is a difficult but necessary step in developing your team. Your staff probably dreads it as much as you, but performance reviews are an important way to gauge your employees’ work successes and stressors, and create better overall communication.

The goal is to take a positive approach and avoid a few common errors. This will help put everyone at ease, including yourself. So, we put together some do’s and don’ts to use as a guide to help your next round of performance reviews go smoothly.

Topics: CMOM, Certified Medical Office Manager, medical office manager topics

We know CMOM is a huge investment. But the financial piece shouldn't keep you from personal development. In the  video below, PMI Faculty Member and CMOM Instructor Linda D'Spain discusses the different ways to pay for CMOM.

Topics: CMOM, PMI Certification, medical office certification, Certified Medical Office Manager, CMOM FAQs

Managing the day-to-day finances and budgetary needs of a busy medical office is a huge responsibility. Medical office managers should have formal training in accounting and financial best practices like cost analyses, financial reports, and financial forecasts. Managing the budget is a major undertaking but learning this one skill will set you up for success in other areas of financial management.

Topics: Practice management, CMOM, medical office manager topics, budget planning, financial management

Every year nearly 2 million American workers are exposed to violence in the workplace. Astonishing as it sounds, experts say it’s just a fraction of the cases that take place; many incidents are never reported. The propensity for violence in the workplace has escalated in recent years, and notably in healthcare. From verbal abuse to physical violence, harassment, intimidation, and even homicide, healthcare and social service workers face threats to their safety at a more frequent rate than other professions.

Topics: Practice management, CMOM, medical office, medical office manager topics, medical practice issues, medical office staff, workplace violence, emergency preparedness

An integral part of a medical office manager’s role is to protect the health and safety of employees by preventing illnesses and possible risks associated with hazardous exposure. OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard, also known as HazCom, is the federal regulation that oversees and evaluates the communication of chemical hazards in a work setting.

Topics: CMOM, medical office certification, medical office manager topics, osha, hazard communication, medical office staff

Portions of this article were originally published in BC Advantage Magazine March 5, 2019

A whopping 25 to 31 percent of total health care expenditures in the U.S. are administrative costs, according to a time-driven, activity-based costing study published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)¹. These are huge margins for healthcare providers already squeezed by insurers and increasing costs of care. You may wonder if the grass is greener on the other side.

Topics: Practice management, CMOM, PMI Certification, Certified Medical Office Manager, medical office manager topics, medical practice issues, medical billing

In 2017, 16.7 million people in the U.S. experienced some type of identity theft with $17 billion in losses to organizations, according to a recent Harris Poll. Medical identity theft is fraud and recognizing and controlling it is a growing and serious compliance concern for medical office managers.

Topics: Practice management, CMOM, Certified Medical Office Manager, medical office manager topics, medical office compliance, medical practice issues, medical fraud, medical identity theft

How high are you setting the bar for patient care in your medical practice? Their health is in your hands, and they expect quality personalized care. Quality assurance is more important than ever. This article offers medical office managers insights for measuring quality assurance in your office. Read further and learn the “how” using two common tasks that can be easily improved when quality assurance is top-of-mind.

Topics: CMOM, PMI Certification, Certified Medical Office Manager, medical office manager topics, cmom certification, quality assurance