Small team meetings can improve communication between staffers and set goals to improve workflow issues and other problems at a physician practice.
At Boston Medical Center, internist teams meet each Friday at 8 a.m. to discuss issues specific to their groups, and all six of the center’s practice teams come together once a month for a larger meeting for big announcements and to celebrate successful efforts, according to a post from the American Medical Association’s AMA Wire.
These meetings break down barriers between practices and make improvement projects more effective as different team members have a stronger voice in the decisionmaking process, says AMA.
RELATED: 4 ways healthcare leaders can improve communication
“The other benefit to the meetings is that it gives all team members a chance to show why certain changes are necessary,” Briana Dukas, an operations manager with BMC and a former practice manager in the system, said.
“It's not always obvious to the physician why the front desk does something a certain way, or vice versa. The team meetings are a chance to clear up some of that mystery.”
How a group of practices in Boston use team meetings to solve workflow problems and build camaraderie: https://t.co/Wdsk9Pa5s0 #STEPSforward pic.twitter.com/hV8PuFWjPu
— AMA (@AmerMedicalAssn) January 30, 2017
Poor communication is one of the key mistakes made by practice managers, and many offer directives that are unclear, unspecific or worded with a lack of urgency.
Employees lose on average of 40 minutes a day because of ineffective communication, Skip Weisman, a consultant based in Poughkeepsie, New York, said during a presentation at the Medical Group Management Association's annual conference. That's an annual cost of about $5,200 each year per staff member.
RELATED: MGMA16—Three damaging communication mistakes practice members make
The AMA’s STEPS Forward module offers several ways that practice managers can effectively structure and schedule meetings, according to the article, including:
- Schedule meetings during times where patient care is unlikely to conflict, and keep to a regular schedule
- Limit group size to make sure each attendee can be a part of discussions
- Keep meetings focused on the issues at hand, and keep to a certain, planned window of time
- Create and stick to a consistent agenda
For projects that come out of practice meetings, assign a point person who will coordinate the efforts and report back to the group at later meetings. Conduct regular followups on goals set at meetings.