As a telecommuting practice manager, you are responsible for ensuring that working virtually fits your office environment.  A complete review should be conducted after 90 days of telecommuting.  If problems aren’t promptly corrected, productivity will wane, morale will suffer, and most importantly, your physicians/owners will be disillusioned and upset.  With that in mind, here are some ways to measure success as a telecommuting practice manager that will help you nip any problems in the bud; “Yes” responses indicate a need for adjustments.     Read the rest of this entry »

Patients who are no-shows for their doctors’ appointments cause efficiency problems and irritation for many practice managers, as well as increase expenses for the practice.  No-show fees can be a deterrent, but they don’t guarantee compliance with scheduled appointments.  Many practices either have receptionists call patients with appointment reminders, take their chances and deal with no-shows as best they can, or have both things occur as patient reminder calls slip through the cracks in staffers’ busy schedules. Read the rest of this entry »

Practice managers who take advantage of the option to work virtually, whether part-time or full-time, often wonder how they will stay in the loop at work when they are physically out of the office. Managing employees, participating in meetings, and staying informed about issues and changes is a greater challenge when you spend some or all of your workdays in your home office. However, there are ways to mitigate these problems that primarily involve utilizing organizational skills and self-discipline – two qualities at which practice managers excel. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve received permission to telecommute in your position as practice manager, either part-time or full-time, on a trial basis or permanently, you’ll want to make the right impression so the owner/physician who gave consent will feel good about the decision.  Whether you continue telecommuting long-term or not, it’s important for your supervisors to have confidence in your ideas and faith that you can carry them to fruition, as well as solve problems that crop up along the way.  To do this, you must arm yourself with the right tools: Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve investigated the option of telecommuting your practice manager position and think it might work, you’re probably at least somewhat apprehensive about the next step – proposing the idea to the owners/physicians at your workplace.  The first and most important rule is to be thoroughly prepared.  This article, the second in our series on telecommuting as a practice manager, offers some tips to help you make a presentation to your owner/physician that has the best chance of being accepted. 

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Telecommuting, also known as working from home or from a virtual office, is an attractive prospect to many practice managers. Avoiding a lengthy and irritating commute is a top motivator for practice managers who work in large, crowded cities with heavy rush-hour traffic. And working from home often raises productivity by offering blocks of uninterrupted time for completing projects. This series of articles will explore the concept of telecommuting for practice managers. Read the rest of this entry »