I've got so many things that I both want to do as well as a things I need to do. Our accreditation is up for renewal in April of 2012. I've decided to switch accreditation organizations for our next survey. I wanted to go with a company that was more "hands on" versus just leaving us to learn things on our own. I'm going with HQAA and so far I have really enjoyed working with them. While many of the policies are a real pain to deal with, for the most part I believe that going through accreditation makes us a stronger company. It's a very time consuming process. With all the medicare reimbursement cuts, small companies like ours are have no choice but for our entire staff to wear many hats. In today's world, it is a major issue to be compliant in every area. From the way you file and code your patient charts to the way you label and store oxygen tanks. It's a never ending process, but like I said, if you can stay on top of it, it will only make you a better more efficient company.
On top of accreditation, there are other ideas that I really want to focus on. At the top of my list is patient relationships. At the current moment my drivers have the best relationships with our patients. Week in and week out, my drivers get to socialize with our patients. They build relationships that I believe are very important when it comes to giving the best care possible. What I want to improve on is my relationships with all of our patients. When we first started and there were only 3 of us here, I knew all of our patients. To this day, I still keep in touch with them. As we have grown though and I spend more time in the office, I have sort of faded to the back of the line. When it's my turn to be on call, I enjoy spending time with all the new patients I set up. I build a good relationship with "my" patients, but what about all the set ups done during the week as well as when I'm not on call? I believe that to be the company I want Alpha Oxy-Med to be, I need to be out meeting with our patients. Back when I was taking my Pre-Med classes, it was always my goal to be one of those special doctors that made house calls in a small town. I think that would be so cool. While I didn't quite make it to medical school, I think I have the opportunity to do something similar. Learning whole heartedly about our patients, seeing how they live, listening to their concerns, meeting family members, heck just sitting down for a cup of coffee, this is what makes a difference in peoples lives.
We originally started with three employees. Mike and I did the office work and deliveries, and Johnnie our respiratory therapist did all the follow up work with our oxygen patients. Now we have a total of 7 employees as well as 2 more part timers. As a company grows it becomes harder to keep that "family like" atmosphere. We've got people going in a hundred different directions. My office staff are on the phones and my drivers are in and out of the office all day long. It's hard to build those relationships when everyone is doing all they can to stay caught up. Another goal of mine is for our staff to make time to learn more about each other. While morale has always been good here, I want it to be extremely high. I want my staff to look forward to coming to work.
These are my top 3 goals for the near future. Keeping a place running is a lot of work in itself, but staying at the top of your game is very important. It takes a lot of work and a lot of dedication, not only on my part but on the part of my staff as well. I look forward to our continued growth and enjoy the challenges. We've been blessed to do something special and I have no doubts we will succeed in making a difference.
No comments:
Post a Comment