Clinical Tips: The Importance of Morning Staff Meetings

A Quick Daily Morning Staff Meeting

I meet with the entire staff for 5 minutes every day before we start seeing patients. We go over the schedule; strategize for potential complex, time-consuming patients; and review issues from the previous day, such as documentation errors, insurance reimbursement, pharmacy prescription problems, and pending prior authorizations. I try to tie up loose ends. This meeting needs to be interactive with everyone contributing. I will tell the staff what I think they need to do better, and they give me feedback on how I can make things better. This strengthens the team concept in our office to maximize efficiency and balance everybody’s workload. It also boosts office morale if everyone feels they have a say in how we should do things.

Wayne Fujita, MD
Aiea, HI

No-Show Fee

Charging a no-show fee is possibly a greedy act. You should appreciate a little bit of extra time to catch up, make phone calls, or answer emails if the patient does not show up.

Ron Vender, MD
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Venting a New Office Space

Ensure that the exhaust from the laser rooms is ducted into the high-speed exhaust stack that serves the bathrooms because it vents directly out of the building. If someone is penny-pinching and vents the laser rooms into the space above the suspended ceiling, the smell will go all over the office.

Kevin C. Smith, MD
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada