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Onboarding Archives - Pinnacle III

Dec 06
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Onboarding a New Department Manager

Onboarding a New Department Manager

By ASC Management, Leadership, Revenue Cycle Management No Comments

For those in ASC leadership, building the right management team is essential to success. This primary objective should not be taken lightly. Once you build an effective team culture with dynamic and engaged individuals, you can expect to make meaningful progress towards organizational goals. Thus, the process for finding and hiring management team members should be a selective one, based on your organizational needs. But what happens once you have selected and hired new management team members? How do you effectively integrate new department managers into your company and cultivate dynamic, engaged team members?

One key to the success of a new manager is a solid onboarding program. Anecdotal evidence shows, properly onboarding an employee can lead to higher job satisfaction, decreased occupational stress, enhanced company commitment, and improved employee retention.

A thoughtful onboarding program eases a new or existing employee’s transition into a new role, ensuring the individual has the tools needed to succeed. Without it, you will likely be performing another employment search soon.

Joining an existing team may be difficult for the new manager and existing team members who have already formed working relationships. So, how do you create an onboarding process that works for all members of your team?

Onboarding takes many shapes and forms, including, but not limited to, meetings, printed materials, one-on-one training, webinars, and corporate retreats. It’s not just training and education – there is also a social aspect to onboarding.

An example of how you may choose to approach employee onboarding for new department managers is outlined below. The process is outlined from a global perspective. As you read, consider how you might incorporate specific actions for your company.

Let’s get the onboarding process started! Day 1:

  • Make the new manager feel welcomed. Ensure their office, computer, phone, etc. are set up and ready for use.
  • Walk through the office and make personal introductions to colleagues.
  • Hand the new manager off to HR for completion of all the necessary employment forms and benefits enrollment.
  • Schedule meetings with other managers and key personnel. Share informative insights on the organizational culture and important team initiatives.
  • Set the tone, framework, and timing for learning. Be open to the process and willing to change timelines based on individual needs.

It is important to be patient during the initial onboarding process. Listen to the feedback and questions from the new manager. Not everyone is comfortable forging ahead or immediately creating relationships in a new company. Many might be hesitant to ask questions. Even new managers with industry experience have much to learn about this unfamiliar environment. It is our job to make sure they are given ample opportunity to absorb all the information and have the tools needed to succeed.

Onboarding checklist guide

It can be helpful to maintain a detailed onboarding checklist to guide you through the manager’s initial employment period. Some of the items you may want to include on your first 90-day checklist follow.

  • Set a 90-day expectation of objectives and performance.
  • Discuss the onboarding checklist in detail – and I mean detail!
  • Be available to mentor and coach daily. Make yourself available to discuss ideas and perceptions with the new manager and how to proceed.
  • Establish regular reporting with the new manager, perhaps weekly. Determine the reporting format and due dates. These reports may provide you with insight about the progress or struggles of the new manager as you move through the onboarding process.
  • Share a company organization chart and make introductions, demonstrating the bench strength and support of the company infrastructure.
  • Schedule regular one-on-one sessions to review the progress of onboarding and performance objectives. Identify tasks/initiatives which need further review and education. Identify initiatives from the orientation checklist which need to be added.
  • Schedule or incorporate the manager into existing management meetings and encourage collaboration from everyone present.
  • Observe, listen, and support. These activities will likely provide additional insight into the manager’s performance and how they are integrating into the company.
  • Complete a 90-day evaluation and thoroughly review the orientation checklist. Ensure any area that has not been adequately covered is addressed.

Following up

Once the new employee has successfully completed the initial employment period, don’t make the mistake of cutting the cord. Continue to offer relevant opportunities for education and development.

Figuratively speaking, it is common for companies to let the manager jump into the pool before they know if there is water in it. This tactic typically does not allow the new manager to get up to speed more quickly. Rather, it will likely delay the successful results you were hoping for from the beginning. Alternatively, giving your new manager adequate training and introduction to the company’s philosophy before overloading them with responsibilities sets them up for the best possibility of success.

Hiring is challenging enough, but once you have done your due diligence and recruited the person you want to your team, your job is not complete. An effective onboarding process requires putting in the time to foster training, provide support, and cultivate positive relationships. You want this to be a long-term win-win for the employee, the company, the clients, and you.

Carol Ciluffo, VP of Revenue Cycle Management

Aug 16
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Quick Tips for Managing a Rural ASC

Quick Tips for Managing a Rural ASC

By ASC Management, Leadership No Comments

Managing a rural ambulatory surgery center (ASC) presents unique challenges. In a limited demographic region, staffing, physician recruitment, and patient access can be problematic, especially if a well-formed strategy isn’t in place.

Here are several tips to help manage a rural ASC.

Staffing

In a remote (non-urban) region, there are typically a limited number of skilled professionals available to staff your rural ASC. While professionals in the area may possess the necessary medical credentials, they may not be equipped with firsthand ASC experience. If you require ASC experience as a minimum qualification, you will further limit your applicant pool. Therefore, it’s best to shift your focus to hiring qualified, motivated individuals who are willing to put in the time and effort necessary to achieve competency in the surgery center arena. Be prepared to spend adequate time onboarding and introducing new employees to the ASC model. It differs significantly from the hospital model where available staff may have gained much of their previous experience. A challenge faced by employees new to the ASC model is learning to perform multiple duties they were not likely required to complete in the hospital setting. Patience, consistent check-ins, and open communication with the preceptor are key in getting them up to speed.

Physician Recruitment

Physician recruitment can also be challenging for a rural ASC. Typically, there is only one hospital which employs physicians in the area. The ASC will either need to have a transfer agreement with that hospital or the physicians providing surgical and procedural services will need to have privileges at the local hospital.

If the hospital is not inclined to provide a transfer agreement to the ASC, physicians who only perform outreach medical services in the area may find obtaining medical staff privileges at the hospital burdensome. Because these physicians are not providing services to the rural community daily, they may be unable to meet the hospital’s case threshold requirements.

Take time to understand physicians’ relationships with the hospital prior to onboarding them to your ASC. In turn, ensure physicians you are recruiting to the ASC understand the steps they may have to take to secure the necessary relationship with the local hospital.

Patients

Patient access is limited in a rural area. Some patients may travel for an hour or more to receive medical services. Robust patient scheduling, admission, and discharge criteria are necessary to ensure optimal patient experience. Train your staff to ask your patients the right questions. Nursing staff need to supply patients with detailed post-operative instructions, as well as travel instructions to make sure patients are comfortable on their trip home.

Some patients may require longer recovery times to adequately prepare them for their extended post-op travel. Understanding these needs up front, will save your staff, physicians, and patients valuable time post-surgery. Provide patient satisfaction surveys, monitor the responses, and implement operational changes to enhance customer service.

The challenges encountered in running a rural ASC are different than those you may face in a surgery center located in a metropolitan area. Devise a strategy that considers staff, patients, and physicians. Focus on building and maintaining a high functioning ASC team. Create relationships that extend beyond the rural community. Focusing on these efforts will help you run a more successful rural ASC with the limited market and resources available.

Kelli McMahan, Regional VP of Operations

Jun 28
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Developing a Successful ASC Staff Onboarding Program

Developing a Successful ASC Staff Onboarding Program

By ASC Management, Leadership No Comments

Onboarding plays a vital role in the success of new hires. An effective ASC staff onboarding program helps new employees acclimate to their role and environment while learning rules and responsibilities. Effective onboarding is also critical to employee retention. Staff are more likely to be satisfied, productive team members when they are provided with the knowledge and training needed to thrive in their positions. Some estimates put the cost of replacing an employee as high as 150 percent of their annual salary.[1] Retaining staff has a direct, positive impact on your bottom line.

ASC Onboarding Best Practices

To help improve the success of your ASC onboarding program, consider these recommendations.

Choose your HR representative carefully. The individual overseeing your human resources (HR) responsibilities is likely the first person new hires will meet on their first day of employment. This meeting sets the tone for the entire ASC onboarding experience. It’s your ASC’s opportunity to make a positive first impression and establish the standard for your positive culture. Your HR representative should be warm and approachable. New employees should come away from their time spent with HR feeling welcomed and valued. They should also understand your ASC’s plan and commitment to helping ensure they excel in their position.

Don’t move too fast. While you may be tempted to put new hires to work right away, refrain from extending too much responsibility too early. Improve the likelihood of job success by allocating appropriate time to cover essential rules and processes. This can include mandatory training, use of your ASC’s patient accounting system, emergency preparedness, and departmental policies and procedures. For new clinical staff members, complete this education and associated paperwork before they begin providing patient care. For new business office staff members, do so before they tackle any business tasks, especially those requiring compliance with HIPAA.

Be consistent. If multiple team members educate new staff, try to ensure training is consistent. Doing so will help you measure training results and efficiently address areas for improvement.

For example, many ASCs assign preceptors to new clinical staff. Each preceptor should know what they need to review to deliver complete, effective training. If you identify shortcomings, it will be easier to train all preceptors on the new information. This will provide confidence that new staff receive this revised education regardless of who fills the preceptor role.

Measure competency progress. As new hires move through your ASC onboarding process, measure their competency progress. One mechanism to consider using is a checklist. As new staff demonstrate proficiency in critical areas, the individuals tasked with overseeing training can indicate on the checklist that competency has been achieved. The checklist can also remind trainers to provide more focus on areas of competency deficits identified during the ASC onboarding process.

Check in periodically. Managers should periodically check in with new staff members throughout their training. While you can make this a formal process, such as scheduling time to speak after 30 and/or 60 days, informal discussions can be beneficial as well. Pull new hires aside at appropriate times to ask about the ASC onboarding process thus far. Are they receiving the training they need? Are questions being answered? How are they getting along with their trainers? Have they encountered any problems?

By asking these types of questions, you may discover opportunities to improve the ASC onboarding experience. After all, you want to make training as successful as possible. Everyone benefits if you can identify worthwhile changes earlier in the process.

Perform formal evaluation. At the end of the onboarding process, schedule a formal evaluation of new hires. Gather notes from trainers and any tools used to measure competency. Ask new hires specific questions about their role and responsibilities. Review competencies, verifying that new hires are adequately prepared to provide services without constant oversight.

If trainers have noted competencies in need of improvement, use this meeting to discuss how to address any limitations. Some areas may simply require reviewing educational materials at the meeting. If that will not suffice, you may need to extend training, focusing on competencies still requiring attention.

Hire Smart to Boost ASC Onboarding Success

The key to a successful ASC onboarding process is a successful hiring process. The onboarding process uses precious time and resources, including the skills and energy of multiple employees. You don’t want to waste these efforts on people who aren’t a good fit and do not remain with your ASC for long.

Here are some quick tips to help improve your hiring process:

  • Don’t hire too quickly. Unfilled job openings may require current staff to work overtime or your ASC to use part-time help. These options are better than rushing to hire people who might lack the qualifications to effectively fill positions.
  • Hire to fit your current culture. It’s important that new hires have the professional skills to fill your job openings. You also need individuals who possess strong interpersonal skills. New hires should contribute to your positive culture and encourage other team members to strive to succeed. Remember, one negative person can seriously damage your facility’s culture.
  • Look for shared vision. The people you hire should possess a vision for the ASC that aligns with that of your facility. For example, if you value compassion and productivity, look for those qualities in candidates.
  • Conduct initial interviews over the phone. Resumes, cover letters, and references only tell part of potential candidates’ stories. Before proceeding with face-to-face interviews, schedule telephone interviews. Go through a set list of questions to help determine whether candidates seem professionally and personally qualified for your openings. If you sense a good potential fit, proceed with in-person interviews. You’ll already have a feel for each candidate’s personality before they arrive, which should help interviews progress efficiently and effectively.

A careful, thoughtful hiring process is more likely to identify candidates who are likely to be successful in your environment. Once they arrive, an onboarding program focused on productivity and satisfaction will increase the likelihood new employees remain with your ASC for many years to come.

Jennifer Arellano, Director of Operations

[1] https://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/why-employee-turnover-is-so-costly.html

Jun 20
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Avoiding the Cost of a Bad Hire through Strategic Interviews

Avoiding the Cost of a Bad Hire through Strategic Interviews

By ASC Management, Leadership No Comments

It is undeniable hiring personnel is tough. In the fast-paced, dynamic ASC industry, there is little room, if any, to proactively hire candidates. OR nurses and surgical technicians are scarce with ASCs facing significant competition for those resources with other health care organizations. With these factors at play, we often rush to fill open positions. Current staff may be overextended sapping them of energy required to participate effectively in the hiring process. When everyone is anxious to fill the void or expand the team, we overlook flaws in candidates. We end up hiring people who don’t really meet our job-related needs and end up costing the company more in the long run.

Recognize the True Costs of a Bad Hire

The expenses associated with recruitment and new employee onboarding are more significant than most of us realize. Consider the following:

If you are using a free job posting platform, you may think you aren’t incurring any recruitment fees. However, if you and your staff are preparing and placing open positions on these platforms, that takes time – one of your most precious resources. Screening applicants, conducting strategic interviews, preparing offer letters, and negotiating employment terms all come with a time and energy price tag. Tack on the fees associated with background checks, drug screens, pre-employment physicals, and/or relocation packages and you have a good idea of what it costs to secure the services of a new team member. If you use the services of a professional recruiter, the costs associated with new hire recruitment can increase exponentially.

But it doesn’t stop there. Factor in the costs of onboarding which may include the following:

  • Time spent preparing and processing new hire paperwork
  • Time spent explaining benefit offerings and processing new hire enrollment elections
  • Time spent conducting organizational and departmental orientation
  • Costs associated with compliance training platforms
  • Time spent training and mentoring new team members
  • Time spent conducting competency assessments

And onboarding isn’t a one day, one week, or even one-month process. Onboarding should last for months with scheduled check-ins at one week, 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days. If you and your new team member have chosen well, the costs associated with recruitment and onboarding result in a return on your investment over the course of the employee’s tenure with your organization.

However, if your new employee doesn’t work out, the costs escalate. To calculate the cost of a “bad” hire – we are not passing judgments on people, we’re referring to a poor fit – add these potential outlays to the loss of everything spent on your new hire thus far:

  • Additional recruitment fees and staff time spent securing a replacement
  • Relocation and training for a replacement
  • Negative impact on team performance
  • Disruption to workflow
  • Potential for lost customers
  • Weakened employer brand
  • Job separation and/or litigation fees

To obtain the right person for the job, you need to know what you’re looking for, ask the right questions, and accurately discern candidate responses. This “simple” formula requires forethought, planning, communication, staff training, and a commitment to press on until you identify an “ideal” candidate.

Conduct Strategic Interviews

If your organization doesn’t have a standardized strategic interviewing process, create one. You’ll reduce the odds of making poor selection decisions when your hiring managers are provided with tools to formulate good questions and effectively evaluate candidates.

Standardized interviews ensure the process is consistent for all candidates. Strategic interviews for each vacancy should be conducted by the same set of interviewers for all candidates. Similarly, strategic interview questions should not vary from one candidate to the next. This allows for a better apples-to-apples comparison during your hiring team’s debriefing sessions.

Development of interview questions should be thoughtful, focusing on the competencies – knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) – required to be successful in the job as well as the attributes required to be effective in the position, department, and organization. Well-formulated job descriptions will help you identify the critical success factors for each position. It may also help to consider the attributes of your top-performing personnel.

Here are some KSAs to consider:

  • Time management
  • Communication
  • Problem solving and decision making
  • Strategic thinking
  • Ethical practice
  • Reliability
  • Initiative
  • Credibility and personal effectiveness
  • Collaboration and teamwork orientation
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Customer/client focus
  • Leadership

Strategic interview questions can fit into various categories – general, behavioral, situational, and technical. An often-used general question posed at the outset of many interviews is, “Tell me about yourself.” Behavioral questions focus on the candidate’s past experience as a means of predicting future behavior and performance. An example is, “What was one of the toughest problems you ever solved? What process did you go through to solve it?” Situational questions provide the candidate with a hypothetical scenario and ask how they would respond given the situation described. For example, “You complete a task early. What do you do with your extra time?” Technical questions tend to be specific to a role. You might ask an infection preventionist, “How do you keep employees abreast of the latest developments in infection control? What types of surveillance techniques do you find most effective?” Develop a healthy mix of these types of questions based on KSAs identified as critical success factors for each position. Focusing solely on skills and experience can lead to overlooking an applicant’s true potential or minimize behaviors that are inconsistent with company values.

Strategic interviews aren’t merely about employers posing questions and soliciting information from interviewees. They provide your applicants with an opportunity to get to know you and your organization. Ensure you allot time for candidates to ask you and your team questions. Strive to properly convey your brand and culture to applicants.

Finally, ensure everyone involved in the strategic interviewing process has the tools they need to avoid asking inappropriate questions. Provide them with a list of illegal questions and alternate phrasing to obtain the answers they need. Here are a few examples:

  • Instead of asking “Can you get a babysitter on short notice for overtime or travel?” ask “You’ll be asked to work overtime or travel on short notice. Will this be a problem for you?”
  • Instead of asking “Is English your first language?” or “What is your native tongue?” ask “What languages can you read, write, or speak fluently?”
  • Instead of asking “How old are you?” ask “Are you over the age of 18?”

It’s easy for inexperienced hiring personnel to unwittingly phrase a question inappropriately. Set your team up for success by preparing them ahead of time. Ask them to stick to the script. They can convey their engagement to candidates via a friendly handshake, smile, and thanking them for their time or candor.

Conclusion

A well-formed talent recruitment strategy in the ASC industry is crucial to running a successful organization. Strategic interviews minimize the risk of a bad hire by ensuring you perform due diligence in vetting potential employees’ skills, experiences, capabilities, and cultural fit for your organization. Taking the time to create a strategic interview process positions your interviewing team to ask the right questions. When you gain a deeper understanding of potential new hires, you save time and money in the long run.

Kim Woodruff, VP of Human Resources & Compliance

May 02
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Revenue Cycle Management Processes: Establishing a Status Quo and Incorporating Input from New Employees

Revenue Cycle Management Processes: Establishing a Status Quo and Incorporating Input from New Employees

By ASC Management, Revenue Cycle Management No Comments

It’s Monday morning and one of your billing office employees walks in with a bizarre patient statement. To make matters even worse, your employee’s work on the statement does not reflect your office’s revenue cycle management processes. Where did this statement come from? How long have your employees employed this process? Where did the communication go wrong?

Perhaps your organization is in growth mode and new staff began implementing experiences and practices from their previous employers. Their understanding of the best way to proceed may not align with your company’s established revenue cycle management processes. Additional education or retraining is necessary.

Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate your processes to assess if they still meet your business needs. If you’re not auditing your current protocols, how do you really know they are effective?

Consider the following practices to ensure successful communication is being delivered to your billing office employees. These suggestions will also ensure your processes remain relevant and effective.

  • Create, implement, and adhere to a robust onboarding process. This helps managers and trainers provide each new employee with the same foundation. A key onboarding element is spending time in other departments to gain an understanding of how each department contributes to the process. If you don’t have a well-defined new employee onboarding process, you need one. The orientation period is the most important opportunity to position new employees for success.
  • Hold educational boot camps when issues arise. It may be much easier to hold short 15-minute topic-specific meetings to address identified issues, than a 30 minute or an hour-long meeting designed to cover multiple topics. This tactic will allow you to be very detailed in reviewing and educating your team about the specific processes or issues in question. Addressing one topic per meeting leads to a greater chance your team will adopt your revenue cycle management processes. Addressing multiple topics in the same meeting may cause the team to become overwhelmed and lose direction, not knowing what to tackle first.
  • Review your policy and procedure manual. Engage your team members in revamping or creating revenue cycle management processes. Allow them to review existing policies to determine if they are still relevant. Retraining and education naturally occur through this type of employee engagement — a win-win for your team.
  • Allow employees to cross-train or shadow in different departments. Confusion often occurs when multiple departments are part of a process. Allowing employees to cross-train or shadow in departments other than their own will help them understand the process in its entirety. Once they have a clear understanding of the entire process, they are better equipped to problem-solve in areas they can control to help their colleagues. Time spent cross-training or shadowing also allows employees to establish relationships and team build with one another.
  • Audit, and then audit some more. Audits don’t have to be cumbersome. A high-level review can reveal where you need to focus your attention. The issues you discover may apply to only one employee and may not be departmental problems.

Bottom line: don’t bury your head in the sand and hope for the best. When adding new team members, training, education, and communication are your best shots for success to ensure their understanding and continuous use of current, relevant revenue cycle management processes. Allowing new team members to suggest alternate ways of proceeding is a bonus for the organization. Their fresh perspective may lead to improvement of established or outdated processes.

Carol Ciluffo, VP of Revenue Cycle Management

May 01
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ASC Onboarding

ASC Onboarding – Begin with the End in Mind

By ASC Management No Comments

In many ASCs, a new employee’s initial day on the job consists of filling out new hire paperwork, reviewing pertinent portions of the employee handbook, being introduced to other employees, quickly touring the facility, and, well, getting to work.  ASCs are small businesses – no frills, limited time, tightly managed resources, one big happy family.  Showing a new employee the ropes is typically a crash course consisting of several employees disseminating lots of information in a short period of time.    

It’s no wonder new employees experience frustration and dissatisfaction early on.  We’ve thrown them into the pool.  It should be no surprise when new employees struggle – often in many little ways.  Sure, they knew how to swim and made it to the other side safe and sound.  But it certainly wasn’t a pleasant experience. 

This is why many management articles focus on the importance of onboarding.  Onboarding is, essentially, organizational socialization.  It is the process through which new employees acquire the knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary to integrate effectively into an existing organization.  If you do not currently have a formal onboarding program in your facility, implementing one will go a long way toward increasing employee satisfaction and retention. 

When creating your onboarding process, begin with the end in mind.  Typically, the end goal is to retain highly qualified employees who synergistically enhance your team.  What tasks do you need to undertake to achieve your desired goal?   

Establish onboarding program objectives. 

Here are some objectives to consider:

  • Teach new hires about your facility’s mission, vision, and core values. Avoid having them read about these workplace tenets.  Have your medical director, team leads, and personnel from every department explain how these principles translate into employee behaviors and mindsets.
  • Provide socialization opportunities in the workplace. Arrange for multiple employees to conduct the facility tour.  Let a PACU employee provide them with a tour of post-op.  Allow front office personnel an opportunity to explain the scheduling, verification, pre-authorization, and registration processes.  They will garner valuable insights during these interactions.  Host a welcome breakfast or lunch. Ensure every member of the team has a chance to participate in this informal gathering.  Help new employees feel good about the role they fulfill and who they work alongside. 
  • Educate new hires about the company culture. Review the unspoken “rules.”  Provide insight into facility nuances.
  • Discuss performance standards and expectations. Outline your expectations, how you measure performance, and what it will take to succeed.
  • Teach them how to do the work. Let them know where they can obtain the necessary materials to perform their job.  Identify who they should go to when a problem arises.  Clearly convey whose approval they need before altering a process or changing plans.

Structure your onboarding process with strategic forethought. 

It includes a written plan/checklist tailored for each position.  Some elements of that plan will apply consistently across all positions.  Other plan elements will require a deep dive into position specifics.  Ensure each plan incorporates input from key team members.  Their unique perspectives about what needs to be covered during the first few days, weeks, and months of a new employee’s tenure will lend itself to a comprehensive process.

Take care of logistics prior to your new employee’s first day. 

Expend the time and energy necessary to create user names and passwords to essential software programs.  If scrubs are provided, make certain the correct size is on hand.  Have a locker available to store valuables during their workday.  Provide them with their name tag.  Order supplies for their workstation, when applicable.  Let them know how to obtain additional items they will need to be efficient and effective.

Ensure the process is interactive; not an information dump. 

Intersperse reading materials in small chunks throughout their initial days on the job.  Ask new hires about their preferred learning style and do what it takes to accommodate those style needs.  Allow ample time for them to observe, while still providing frequent opportunities for hands-on practice.

Avoid rushing the process. 

Spread it out over several months.  Plan on spending the initial employment period (30-90 days) focusing on your new hire.  Recognize onboarding takes time which, if executed well, yields a high return on your investment.  Consider assigning a mentor to extend the orientation process in the 6-9 months following the initial employment period.  Finally, follow-up at regular intervals – 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 6 months, 9 months, and annually.  Use these follow-ups to assess progress and check in with the employee to determine ongoing needs. 

A well-crafted onboarding program leads you to desired results.  In fact, it can serve as an amazing recruitment tool.  So much so that applicants might be queuing up at the door hoping to fill your next vacant position.

Kim Woodruff – Vice President of Corporate Finance & Compliance

Jan 10
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Front Office Personnel

Best Practices for Hiring Some of the Most Important Roles in Your ASC – Your Front Office Personnel

By ASC Management No Comments

Some of the most difficult positions to fill in a surgery center are in the front office.  If you focus on hiring someone with a positive attitude who enjoys greeting patients and talking with family members, they may spend their entire day happily conversing but fail to attend to the mounting pile of paperwork.  Conversely, if you focus on hiring someone who accurately processes all that paperwork and is detail oriented, they may have a difficult time acknowledging the presence of others.  What’s an administrator to do?

Perhaps one of the best places to begin is with task delineation.  If you can afford to hire several employees, segregate front office duties by aligning them with specific personality traits.  Prepare job descriptions that support those traits.  Employees who enjoy interacting with others are best suited for greeting patients, securing pre-authorization of services, obtaining physicians’ signatures on medical records, working with physicians’ schedulers, and ensuring vital information is communicated to colleagues and family members.  Those who have an eye for details and are inclined to double-check their work can be tasked with verifying benefits, registering patients, entering data into the patient accounting system, securing patient payments, overseeing petty cash transactions, and obtaining implant invoices from vendor reps before they leave the facility. 

Developing comprehensive job descriptions with personality traits in mind should then lead to interview questions designed to elicit the attitudes, values, and skill sets that are important to you, your team, and your business.  If you are seeking someone who possesses a high level of integrity, asking an applicant to tell you about a time it was necessary for them to admit to others they made a mistake may reveal their capacity for being honest and humble.  Or posing a question about how they react when they are asked to do something beyond their capabilities could provide you with insight into their initiative, determination, and capacity for growth. 

If you intuitively sense the prospective employee is a good cultural fit, move on to technical skill assessment.  Attention to detail, for example, can be assessed in a variety of ways.  Start with the applicant’s resume and/or employment application.  Are there typographical, spelling, or grammatical errors?  If so, they may not be someone who takes the time to double-check their work (or the work of others if their resume was prepared by a professional).  Next, replicate the working conditions by administering a time-based screening tool to assess the applicant’s ability to quickly and accurately identify transposed numbers and letters under pressure. Finally, pay attention to the prospective employee’s responses to instructions you provide and/or interview questions you ask.  While it is easy to misunderstand someone else’s intent during these types of exchanges, applicants who possess attention to detail will typically request clarification to ensure they are responding appropriately.

When you sense you’ve identified a solid candidate, ensure you check references.  Checking references can be tricky – many former employers have policies in place preventing them from extemporaneously responding to questions, choosing instead to only confirm employment dates, position held and, if you’re luck, eligibility for rehire.  However, for those who are willing to discuss the skill sets, personality traits, and work performance of your potential hire, ensure you use their time wisely.  Carefully craft your questions to address items essential for effective performance in your work environment.  And be sure to tap into resources that will provide an honest assessment – former (or current) direct supervisors who are listed on the candidate’s job application, for example.  Recognize the list of references provided by an applicant with his or her resume may contain names of friends or co-workers who may not be familiar with how well the candidate performed on the job but are more than happy to provide a glowing recommendation.

Finally, when you make your job offer, if there are contingencies – successful completion of a background check or drug screen, for example – note how the applicant responds.  If they drag their feet on completing authorization paperwork or physical tests, they are waving a red flag regarding their willingness or ability to follow-through. 

Your assessment of the applicant should continue throughout the onboarding process.  The first couple of weeks your new employee is on the job will provide you with a better idea of what you’ve gotten yourself into.  If you believe the individual oversold themselves and is under-delivering, dig below the surface to determine the root cause.  Has the onboarding process (or lack thereof) contributed to confusion regarding expectations?  Are there tools that need to be provided and/or reviewed to assist the employee attain success in task accomplishment?  While it’s important to work on finding what’s leading to your new hire’s underperformance, sometimes it’s just not the fit you initially envisioned.  It’s okay to recognize that and part ways with the individual rather than allocating additional resources to a situation that isn’t working for either of you. 

Performing due diligence throughout each step of the process provides you with the best chance of finding someone who is the perfect fit.   That’s as satisfying as finding the puzzle piece that has baffled your entire extended family for the better part of a week during your annual holiday ski vacation! 

Kim Woodruff – Vice President of Corporate Finance & Compliance