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

Lots of healthcare organizations say their core values reflect a diverse and inclusive workplace but fall flat in implementation. A diverse workplace must be welcoming of all individuals, no matter their ethnicity, age, gender, or sexual orientation. More than a mission statement, everyone in your medical office plays an active role in its successful integration. In this post, we discuss what it takes to create a strong workplace culture of diversity and inclusion and why you must elevate its presence in your medical office.

Topics: Practice management, medical office manager topics, medical practice issues, diversity and inclusion

Mix together long hours, hectic schedules, heavy caseloads, COVID-19 chaos, and office politics, and you get a toxic recipe for medical practice burnout. Don't ignore these signs! Medical office managers can reduce the effects of stress and burnout with strategies that support providers and staff. Learn best practices to avoid burnout, protect your practice, and increase patient satisfaction.

Topics: Practice management, time management, medical office manager topics, medical practice issues, medical office staff, administrative burdens

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

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

The rapid spread of the coronavirus across the U.S. and many parts of the globe has drawn quite a bit of attention to employee safety. As business leaders look over their employee policies and procedures, they may begin to wonder about legal risks that a pandemic may expose them to. Medical offices are no exception. OSHA requires every employer to have policies and procedures to address the pandemic spread of viral illnesses such as the flu or coronavirus. A review of your policies and response plans now is essential.

Topics: medical office certification, Certified Medical Office Manager, medical office manager topics, medical office compliance

Medical information is the number one prime target when it comes to cybersecurity hacks, FBI Computer Scientist Thomas Ervin at Practice Management Institute’s National Conference for Medical Office Professionals in December. A single click on a phishing email can turn a machine into a “slave,” as termed in the cybersecurity industry. Phishing email incidents are not new and have increased more than 200 percent. It has become so prevalent that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Division has set up a website to report phishing emails. Ervin, FBI Special Agent Raymond Martinez, and Cybersecurity Expert Richard Avery delivered an eye-opening demonstration to show how easy it can be for your personal and work data to be compromised by a hacker. Cybercriminals target all types of organizations and these experts warned that healthcare entities need to be especially vigilant.

Topics: Practice management, medical office manager topics, medical office compliance, medical practice issues, medical fraud, medical identity theft, HIPAA compliance

Looking to start or advance your career in Medical Office Management? Earning a certification can be a huge bargaining chip when trying to snag a dream job or advance into a supervisory role with your current employer. In either case, you’ll want to weigh factors like the investment of time and money to know if a certification is right for you.

Topics: medical office manager topics, medical practice issues, financial management, HIPAA compliance

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

A Medical Office Manager’s Guide to Patient Collections

Topics: Practice cash flow, medical office manager topics, medical billing, financial management

If you are managing a small- to medium-sized provider office, then you’re painfully familiar with the daily struggle to keep everything and everyone in line. These broad responsibilities probably include things like managing the patient-payer mix, staffing, provider schedules, patient relations, and accounting. It’s not easy; our hats are off to you!

Topics: medical office certification, medical office manager topics, medical practice issues, medical office staff

Is your medical practice following current HIPAA compliance guidelines? Keeping track of current regulations is challenging and time consuming. But disregard for mandatory patient privacy laws can bring costly violations, fines, and penalties if a breach occurs. The following checklists outline important steps that organizations must take to secure Protected Health Information (PHI). Keep these checklists on hand to help keep your practice compliant.

Topics: Practice management, medical office manager topics, medical office staff, financial management, HIPAA compliance, HIPAA

With rising costs in today’s medical practice, it’s becoming more important than ever to receive timely payments from patients. With the high costs associated with printing and mailing statements, and lingering late and missing patient payments, it’s enough to send the medical office budget into deficit. Though collecting insurance company payments is the lifeblood of all medical facilities, out-of-pocket patient expenses such as deductibles, copays, and coinsurance amounts can’t be dismissed. They can add up quickly in lost revenue if stricter collection procedures aren’t in place. 

Topics: Practice management, medical office manager topics, medical practice issues, medical office staff, financial management

Medical practice overhead is a growing concern for many practices that are looking to thrive and simultaneously maintain quality patient care. In today’s medical practice, overhead is directly related to patient volume, collections, and its general structure. These ongoing administrative and clinical expenses are necessary for the business to function but can have a negative impact on the practice’s revenue.

Topics: Practice management, medical office manager topics, medical practice issues, financial management

An excerpt from the new ebook: The Medical Office Manager's Guide to Time Management 

Key tips, best practices, insights—we've shared a number of ways to better manage your medical practice. But if you're looking for guidance in getting better at time management, all in one place, you'll want to download the latest ebook on The Medical Office Manager's Guide to Time Management. Not only does this guide provide you with educational and informative gems, it also shares how to help put all of this great knowledge into practice. 

Topics: Practice management, time management, medical office manager topics, medical practice issues