COVID-19 And My Practice
Many medical practices have experienced challenges due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are some of the top lessons from medical practices around the country.
Patients. For primary care providers and many other practices, the need to continue seeing patients is obvious. For many other practices, including dental offices, eye doctors, plastic surgeons and more, the choice is less clear. In parts of the country that are under lockdown or partial lockdown orders, experts believe that only emergency cases should be seen. All non-emergency cases should be rescheduled for at least 2 weeks from now, but likely even longer. If you can, continue to pay essential staff members for at least 2 weeks, so that when you can reopen, you'll have the staff you need to do it. If you must make layoffs, front desk staff or other positions that are easier to replace should go first compared to medical assistants or other highly trained staff members.
Communication. Communication with patients is key. Consider a text message blast to your entire patient database. Make quick videos from your cell phone in a professional manner, letting your patients know that you're thinking about them, that you're available for emergencies, and that you can't wait to see them again.
Communicating new times, locations, procedures, and schedules have been a major struggle for many practices. Be sure when you are communicating with patients about a change, the protocol is truly set in stone and will not change until it returns to normal operations. Be sure to keep a log of missed calls, voicemails or broken appointments from this time, so that when you do reopen, you can have staff members make outbound calls to follow up with those patients during slow times of the day.
Support for your team. During trying times, many people are affected differently. Make sure to check in with your team on a regular basis. Even if the office is closed, make a point to check in with your team as a group at least twice per week. Conference calls, Zoom Meetings or Google Hangouts are great ways to make sure that you're staying in touch with the staff, and that they're keeping relationships open wiht each other. In addition, check in once per week with each team member individually. Ask how they're managing during this difficult time, and if they need anything that's within your ability to provide. Making sure that your team feels that they're still part of the organization and cared about can be good for their emotional health, but it's also good for your business.