Human resources are the greatest advantage you have in an increasingly competitive market. For your healthcare organization to be successful it is equally as important to staff your team with great team members as it is to optimize your clinical and business processes. As we have built and developed our team with C.A.R.E., we have also identified 8 characteristics that you should be looking for within your existing staff, and when hiring new employees. Inspire these leadership principles in your staff and watch how quickly they help you reach your organizational goals.

No Excuses

“No excuses, no explanations.” – Tony Dungy

There are two kinds of people on every team: the ones who make excuses and the ones who get things done. Typically “excuse makers” already have an explanation in mind before they even begin a task, and entering into a commitment with that mindset gives them an excuse to fail before they even start. Making an excuse is a way to avoid failure, but great teammates (and great leaders) understand that failure is nothing but a learning opportunity unless it is allowed to become more than that. Solution-oriented people eliminate obstacles before they arise by asking questions.

Accountability

“Accountability breeds response-ability.” -Steven R. Covey

Those team members who do not make excuses will often also have a high level of accountability. It is important for the leaders in your organization to hold their staff accountable for their results and to provide frequent feedback about their performance. Accountability is not about scolding people for failing to meet their goals, but rather is about loving them enough to want to help them succeed. Encourage your team to have honest conversations about issues in their work. If it is important enough to be upset about it is important enough to talk about. (Otherwise, forget it!)

Servant Leadership

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” – John Maxwell

One of the most important characteristics you can look for in your team members is servant leadership. Leaders should be there to serve their teams, and team members should be there to serve each other. After all, without internal support how can you possibly support a whole network of patients? Servant leadership requires building authentic relationships and giving your staff an opportunity to get to know each other. Only when they are serving each other, and holding each other accountable, will they really be committed to reaching shared goals.

Personal Example

“The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.” – John Wooden

Leadership that leads with a servant’s heart, and that is engaged, consistent, and genuine, is an example to the entire team of how they can serve others. You cannot expect a team to do more than its leaders are willing to, but it is important to remember that it isn’t just management who are viewed as leaders. Every department has those people who are looked to as an example. When everyone on your team is setting the right example, you can be sure that work ethic, integrity, and personal improvement will follow.

Passion

“Figure out what you are passionate about, enough to outwork everyone else it the world, because 90% of success in life is a direct result of how much effort you are willing to put forth. The trick is you have to be honest with yourself about what you are passionate about.” – Mark Schabel, CEO of RMP

It is unlikely that you will meet too many people who are passionate about collecting money from patients. Expecting your staff to love such a difficult task enough to want to be better than everyone else in the world is unrealistic. However, you can look for people who have identified what they are passionate about, and whose passion is in line with the goals and culture of your organization. That could be helping patients, or working together with their team. The best way to inspire passion in others is to help them honestly identify what they do love about their job and to embrace it.

Attitude

“The only disability in life is a negative attitude.” – Eric Day, Business Development for RMP, Founder of Stay Positive 

Attitude is about how people choose to react to the world around them. Having a positive attitude requires sacrifice and a choice to rise of the circumstances. People who consistently make that choice are far more likely to act positively, and to set a positive example for others. To illustrate the importance of having the right attitude, consider this: only 1/3 of patients have indicated they would leave a practice due to service dissatisfaction to go to a competitor. The other 2/3 indicated they would leave as a result of the attitude or indifference of one employee.

Heart

“We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it.” – Jon Gordon

A heart-centered approach to business relies on the ability to look inward and reflect on goals and passions, and to understand why you are really doing what you are doing. Your team needs to have a firm understanding of why they are on the team; they need to feel valued, respected, listened to, and involved. If they are just there for a paycheck they will never be a great team member. But if they feel that they are valued and understand how they are part of the team they will have a better connection with their counterparts, and their leaders.

Belief

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford

Great teammates believe in themselves and in the rest of their team. They also need to believe in the mission and vision of your organization. This may be the hardest characteristic to determine, but if you are able to find passionate people who align with the goals of your team, who lead by example, and who have a positive and no-excuses attitude and show heart, then you have also found a person who will believe in themselves, and in you.

Want more tips for building a ridiculously successful team? Download our free team building webinar on demand!

Take this article with you! Click here for a printable version.

Written by Ali Bechtel, Digital Marketing Manager for RMP

This information is not intended to be legal advice and may not be used as legal advice.  Legal advice must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case.  Every effort has been made to assure this information is up-to-date as of the date of publication. It is not intended to be a full and exhaustive explanation of the law in any area, nor should it be used to replace the advice of your own legal counsel. 

It’s a busy afternoon and the practice’s front desk is understaffed, again. After several minutes and a rush of registrations the last patient to walk in finally approaches the counter. Despite the rush of patients the front desk representative offers a friendly greeting, confirms the patient’s general demographic and insurance information, and confirms that she does not owe a co-pay. The rep also notices that the patient has a high outstanding balance and a $5,000 deductible that she has not met yet. The practice’s financial policy states that high deductible health plan patients with a high balance must establish a payment plan in order to receive care, but she is already running late for her time slot so the rep  lets her know that following her appointment she will need to meet with a  patient account representative to establish one.

Following her appointment the physician walks the patient out of the office, bypassing the check-out desk. On review of the patient’s file the representative finds a note from the physician that the patient was upset that she had to wait so long only to be confronted about her balance, so he instructed her to proceed without checking out and informed her that she would simply receive a statement for the day’s visit in the mail.

True or False: This practice has a collections culture

The patient access representative followed all the proper steps at registration and made an effort to enforce the practice’s financial policy, but the physician overruled and undermined her efforts. So the answer is false, this practice does not have a collections culture.

Typically the greatest challenge when working with patients with HDHPs is front office communication about financial responsibility, but following the proper collections protocol is not enough. There must be an organization-wide culture of collections within the practice that aims to maximize not only recovery, but also patient satisfaction. It may seem counterintuitive that asking a patient for money at the time of service is creating a good experience, but they will be more appreciative of the explanation of their responsibility before receiving services than they will of receiving an unexpected statement weeks later.

So how do you create a collections culture?

Culture Starts at the Top

A healthcare organization’s culture is its set of beliefs and behaviors that determine how employees and management interact to handle patient encounters. New employees don’t bring culture with them, it has to be created within the organization and it starts with leadership. There must be executive buy-in and a top-down decision to create a culture of collections within the practice. In the case of a physician practice, it is the responsibility of management as well as the physicians to understand the importance of patient collections, and to support the rest of the organization in meeting set goals. While a clear financial policy and employee training are valuabl

e, it is the entire organization’s commitment to upholding it that makes all the difference.

Create the Right Team

Leadership can determine what the healthcare organization’s culture should be, but it is key to hire people who will embrace it. Patient expectations are changing. They are seeking more financial transparency. Your patient access staff must have the expertise and experience to be able to answer their questions, or you risk a poor patient experience, and possibly losing that patient altogether. Practices can no longer afford to hire a friendly face for check-in. Front desk representatives must be trained for a much more complex job in deciphering eligibility and benefits, providing estimates, and acting as a financial counselor for HDHP patients.

For tips on how to build a ridiculously successful team, download our webinar on demand.

Provide the Right Tools

Having a collections culture requires giving your team the right tools for the job. Provide the technology and estimate tools they need to streamline their workload and give them access to the information patients are seeking. If your practice cannot commit to the latest technology, provide training opportunities and support that enable your staff to collect the information manually. Either way, if they cannot provide the patients with the information they seek, the patient will find another practice that can.

Teach Everyone in Your Organization to Say “I’m Sorry”

Collecting money from patients requires a positive mindset. Not only should everyone in your organization be able to empathize with patients, they need to be empowered and motivated ask for payment. Help change your employees’ mindset about collecting money with our free webinar on demand: Collecting from Patients – The Human Component. If you can build a team that is motivated and willing to uphold the culture established by the top-level, both recovery and patient satisfaction are sure to improve as a result.

Take this article with you! Click here for a printable version.

Written by Ali Bechtel, Digital Marketing Manager for RMP

This information is not intended to be legal advice and may not be used as legal advice.  Legal advice must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case.  Every effort has been made to assure this information is up-to-date as of the date of publication. It is not intended to be a full and exhaustive explanation of the law in any area, nor should it be used to replace the advice of your own legal counsel. 

At church the other weekend, the sermon was a great one. It was about students being afraid to be “A” students because they didn’t want to be made fun of. It was slightly eye opening but seemed to make sense. At an age of such acceptance, being too smart or “nerdy” is a very touchy subject.

Imagine having this option on your first day of school: either sit at a table with ten of your new friends or sit in the corner with only one other person.  It’s tempting to sit with ten friends, right?  Now imagine the same scenario where the ten people at the table are being disciplined for bullying another student and the one student by himself is getting praised for sticking up for the bullied kid.  Now which group do you want to be in?  It’s tempting to fit in, but it isn’t always the right thing to do. The sermon stated that we are always doing God’s work no matter what we do (as long as not illegal or immoral) so lacking in school, especially on purpose, was lacking in our duty to God. Again, great message, it but got me thinking.

This doesn’t just apply to school. This applies to everyday life, and in particular, to work. Some people don’t want to “over achieve” or go the extra mile because they don’t want to be a “brown noser.” They don’t want others whispering – which is realistically out of jealousy or spite. To be the worker that goes the extra mile may feel great internally, but external pressure doesn’t allow us to be that person. I won’t go into this being the definition of America or the lazy workforce that inhabits many companies across America – but I will say this: No matter what you may believe, no matter who you may do it for, be the best.

If you’re doing God’s work, do the best work you’ve ever done. If you’re doing it for your company, do the right thing. And if you’re doing it for you – by all means do the best YOU can do. You are the only person who prevents you from achieving greatness – achieving the best. If you’re scared of being talked about at work, then you’re afraid to be the best. The best get criticized, the best get talked about both positively and negatively, and most importantly, the best take these negative things and turn them into something positive.

If you’re in the workforce long enough you’ll see great examples of both of these things.  I’ve had managers who have backed down and expected less of themselves just to “fit in.”  I’ve also seen people excel and do their best no matter what is being said about them.  You have to decide which person you want to be.  You have to make that choice.  Sticking out in a large workforce could be the difference in your life.  It doesn’t make you snooty. It doesn’t make you fake.  It makes you a hard worker.  It means you cherish what you do and you believe in what you stand for.  It means you’re doing the best job that you can – whether it be for God, for your company, or simply for you.

I’ll leave you with a couple of my favorite quotes:

“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”

“To be successful in life, make yourself irreplaceable.”

Written by Luke Mauer, Senior Financial Analyst for RMP

Take this article with you! Click here for a printable version.

This information is not intended to be legal advice and may not be used as legal advice.  Legal advice must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case.  Every effort has been made to assure this information is up-to-date as of the date of publication. It is not intended to be a full and exhaustive explanation of the law in any area, nor should it be used to replace the advice of your own legal counsel. 

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