The Administrator’s Desk: Recruiting for Patient Satisfaction
New hires’ people skills can have more of an effect on your practice than you may think.
By Shelly K. Schwartz When Joan Rissmiller interviews candidates for new positions at her Allentown, Pa., practice, she doesn’t just examine their resumes and skill sets. She also evaluates their attitudes.
“First impressions are lasting impressions, which is why hiring for patient satisfaction is so important to a practice,” says Rissmiller, a 25-year industry veteran and the practice administrator for Colon Rectal Surgery Associates. “I recently hired an individual who is like the sunshine,” she says. “She knows the patients and addresses them all by name. She knows their families and asks how they are. She makes them feel like they are the most important person there, and the patients just love it.”
Those who lack such social finesse, on the other hand, can not only create headaches for their coworkers (who have to deal with patient complaints), but also can cost practices money when frustrated patients take their charts and run. “We had a problem at my last practice with a front-desk clerk, and we started receiving all these patient complaints,” Rissmiller recalls. “I had to write her up a number of times and eventually showed that employee the door.”
And rightly so. In today’s competitive healthcare environment, the need for patient-friendly care at all levels of your practice, from medical assistants to nurses to clerical staff, has become more important than ever. “Everyone is trying to differentiate themselves, and patient satisfaction has become one of those factors we see a lot of clients target for improvement,” says Michael Tucker, a registered nurse and a senior search consultant for the healthcare recruiting firm Cejka Search. “At smaller practices, competition is even more important. Patients are going to go where they feel comfortable.” Continued...
