We are making some changes in our office systems, job tasks, and procedures now that we are completing our change over to electronic medical records, billing and all documentation.
As we have talked about many times change is not easy and we are all having to learn a new way to do many of our daily tasks and have new responsibilities.
I am continually amazed at how technology is now playing such an important role in the physician’s office. The new software holds surprises for me all of the time with what it is able to do. I guess I am showing my age here, as the younger staff members almost expect it to do more because they were using computers when they were in kindergarten.
Getting back to our changes; in order to make them go a bit smoother as full-time employees make transitions, we have hired a temporary part-time assistant to help out. She just graduated from high school with several honors and will be attending a very prestigious college majoring in pre-med in two months. She is the perfect fit for our office and, of course, she is a “Gen Yer.”
Training her is a joint effort in our practice and each staff member is doing their part to give her the knowledge to complete the tasks that are required of her. It has been a great eye-opener to us all, because she is so quick to learn and very bright. I enjoy hearing her ask “why” questions as it gives me insight into what someone of her generation and age is thinking. We are never too old to learn from our younger generations and it is important to be open to what they have to say.
After the first two days of training I was talking to her about answering the phone, and she really wasn’t sure she was ready to do it, she was afraid. Now, I realize that for anyone answering a phone in a business can be a bit scary, as you don’t know what the person on the other side may want. I explained that she could just answer the phone and then ask the person what they needed and then tell them that you would get someone to help them.
This seemed to ease her fear a bit, we gave her a few more encouraging tips and she wrote down what she needed to say so she was prepared. The phone rang and we waited, she picked it up, spoke her script and put the caller on hold. We clapped and congratulated her for her victory. As the day went on she began to answer the phone more and she even scheduled an appointment, which was a great accomplishment. When she left that afternoon we all told her what a great job she did and I think she was pretty happy with herself.
It is so important that when we have these awesome opportunities to bring a young person into our place of business that we really take time with them and give them the tools and encouragement that they need to be successful. We want to make their work experience a positive one and one where they also feel great about themselves. We are investing in our countries future workforce, the ones that will be leading our country in the not too distant future.
Our office has just eight weeks to give this young woman the best summer job experience that she will ever have and I am certainly sure we will learn a lot from her also. Gen-Y has a lot to offer, just as all generations do.
If you get the opportunity to invest, I say do not pass it up, all involved with benefit from it.
08/06/14
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