I have been working with this practice for quite some time and although year after year they out-perform the last, I am always slightly frustrated (as are the partners) with the two areas mentioned above. What do these two things have in common? They are both staff driven; meaning that staff has control over where and how soon new patients are placed on the schedule (in general, the longer you make a new patient wait to be seen the higher the chance of them not showing up) and they are the “real people” backing up the cash product and service recommendations of the doctors.

In case you haven’t heard me say it, to patients, staff members are real people whereas doctors are not. Patients rely on staff to “give them the scoop.” Does that shockwave thing really work? Why wouldn’t the doctor just write me a prescription for something similar? Think about how you viewed your second grade teacher. Your assumption was the she lived at school and ate chicken patties for every meal. She was your teacher and that’s all. It wasn’t until that mind blowing moment when you saw “Mrs. Anderson” in the supermarket with her spouse or children that you realized otherwise.

For years in this practice, we tried setting different goals, training more consistently and interactively, and offering cash bonuses and other goodies when goals were met, but new patient numbers and cash “sales” were still lacking. It seemed as if these types of incentives just weren’t working. So, in late January this year I made a suggestion…Why don’t we ask each staff member what motivates them and see what they come up with?

As it turns out, this particular group of staff members was more interested in being “bonused” with additional time off rather than money or gifts. In this case, it was one paid day added to their vacation time. It seems obvious now, but if you are struggling to motivate staff to help you meet your practice goals, make sure to reward them for a job well done (but not before you ask them how they would like to be rewarded).