In today’s age of declining reimburse- ment and soaring overhead, it is critical to hire a qualified office manager who can free you from administrative hassles, help control your practice expenses and maximize your clinical time. However, finding a top-notch employee in an ever-shrinking talent pool is not easy.
Following are steps to help you recruit a professional to manage your practice.
Step One: Determine Your Needs
Assessing your practice’s management needs is a critical step in the hiring process. To define your practice’s needs, consider elements like patient volume, revenue and overall practice expenses. Identify your practice’s strengths and weaknesses and determine what tasks the manager will do and what qualifications he or she must have.
“Not every neurosurgical practice needs a full-fledged administrator,” said Karen Zupko, president of KarenZupko & Associates, a practice management consulting firm. “The position may be organized as an office manager or a practice administrator, depending on the size and complexity of the solo or group practice.”
Office Manager Versus Practice Administrator
There are generally two types of business administrators, often referred to as office managers or practice administrators. Each has a different educational and managerial background, different skill sets and different roles within the practice.
“Office managers are usually ‘A-plus’ employees who have some college experience and have earned the title and knowledge through on-the-job training,” said Ms. Zupko. “They are typically responsible for every non-clinical activity, such as daily practice operations, staff training and billing and collections.” Depending on the size, location and complexity of the practice, office managers usually receive a starting salary of about $30,000.
Practice administrators, on the other hand, are more skilled in business management and marketing. They often have a master’s degree in business administration or health administration and experience running a complex, multi-specialty practice. Their responsibilities usually include negotiating managed care contracts, managing relationships with hospitals and third-party payers, supervising billings, and developing the practice’s marketing plan.
“Hiring a practice administrator is not cheap,” said Ms. Zupko. Salaries typically start at $40,000 and can range as high as $90,000 for experienced administrators servicing a large group practice.
When does the size or volume of the practice warrant hiring an administrator? Ms. Zupko suggests, “If your practice has gross billings in the range of $1 million or more, and you find that you no longer have time to track financials, negotiate managed care contracts, calculate practice revenue or draft the annual budget, then you probably need to hire an administrator.”
Step Two: Conducting the Search
Advertising and recruiting are essential to the hiring process. Effective recruiting requires that physicians explore the myriad of search methods available and determine which vehicle is the most appropriate. Word-of-mouth leads, recruitment agencies, online job postings and newspaper advertisements are all effective methods for getting the word out about the position.
When it comes to job advertisements, Ms. Zupko stresses, “Make your ad specific and include information such as managerial responsibilities, educational requirements, desired personality traits and estimated salary range. The more structured your advertisement, the more likely you will attract candidates worth your time to interview.”
Step Three: Begin the Interview Process
This is the most critical step in the selection process, because no application form, résumé or letter of recommendation reveals as much about a person as a one-on-one meeting.
It is important to develop a list of key interview questions that focus on areas such as education, managerial experience, leadership skills and decision-making capabilities, such as: “What skills have you learned on your present job that will help you in this position?” or “What are your short- and long-term career goals?”
“You should also develop a second set of interview questions that focus on the candidates’ operational and technical knowledge of medical practice management,” said Ms. Zupko. These questions should be customized to meet the level of expertise the practice needs in terms of coding and financial management. Questions may include: “What kinds of coding patterns raise suspicions of fraud and abuse in a Medicare audit?” or “What guidelines would you institute for handling cash in the office?”
Step Four: Check References
When the interview process is complete and you have narrowed the candidate pool, check their references. This step requires that you contact the candidates’ professional references and discuss their work experience, work habits and competencies, and their character.
“Reference checks are essential because they can provide you with the tools to determine which candidate is right for the position,” said Ms. Zupko. “Also, these checks can introduce you to a new list of skills not addressed in the interview process.”
The information contained in this article was adapted from Finding the Right Superhero to Manage Your Practice, a recruitment guide published by Karen Zupko & Associates, a practice management consulting firm in Chicago, Illinois. To order the guide, visit their Web site at www.Karen Zupko.com.