Why Clear Roles Create a Stronger Chiropractic and Healthcare Practice

Simple steps to improve teamwork, patient care, and a thriving healthcare practice.

Many Years Ago, I visited a chiropractic office where the doctor complained that he was losing patients. They weren’t keeping to their schedule. He wasn’t happy with Sue (not her real name), who was on the front desk.

I watched Sue in action for a while, and then found some time ask her questions.

She told me that when the doctor hired her, he referred to her as his “secretary” and “receptionist.”

She had no job description and thought she was doing well by being cordial with all the patients. (She was polite!)

The doctor had told her when she started that she should keep up with patient appointments. She wasn’t sure how to do it and got by just being nice!

The situation is probably obvious to you, but it wasn’t to them.

I met with both of them and clarified everyone’s roles and goals. I even wrote out some very simple job checklists and asked them to meet every month to review how they were doing in their roles.

When I checked a month later, the doctor and Sue said patients were following their schedules more consistently. Both sounded more upbeat about how the practice was doing.

This may seem like an extreme and obvious example, but in different forms, it’s pretty common. Office roles and their goals can become fuzzy, diluted, and vague. This can seriously affect production, organization, and morale.

Everyone at work fills multiple roles. For example, the front desk may also include a collections role and a promotion role. The doctor may also have the role of CEO, Clinical Director, and business owner. In life, we also wear many hats: father, husband, sometimes handyman, etc.

Just clarifying each role -- and its goal -- can help improve the outcomes in your practice.

THE THREE ELEMENTS OF EVERY ROLE

Let’s take a look at what makes up a role. In the Goal Driven System, a role has just three elements:

A. The Purpose. Why you are doing what you are doing.

B. The Outcome. What you want to bring about.

C. The Procedures. How you are going to achieve this outcome and fulfill the

purpose.

For the front desk, it would be something like:

A. Purpose: Help patients achieve their health goals by ensuring they have a

schedule and keep up with their appointments.

B. The Outcome: Patients keeping their scheduled appointments.

C. Procedures:

1. Always greeting the patient with a smile when they enter the office.

2. Always answering the phone with a smile.

3. Ensuring each patient left with another appt. scheduled

ACTION STEPS - TRY THIS IN YOUR CHIROPRACTIC AND HEALTHCARE PRACTICE:

Have everyone on your team write out their various roles.

Then, help them work out the:

A. Purpose of each role

B. Outcome of each role.

C. 5-10 procedures for each role.

You can add Performance Indicators (stats) to monitor the outcomes. For example, on the front desk, you might keep: a) % of Kept Appointments and b) Total Office Visits.

Every couple of months, review and rehearse these roles. Every winning sports team practices like this – they review and practice their roles. Do this, and you and your team will see the positive results on the scoreboard!

And remember, keep it fun and stay…

Goal Driven

Ed

P.S. If you have a practice manager, they should ensure these action steps occur!

For more information on "roles and goals," read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey