How to support your staff through times of uncertainty?
We are breathing in the most uncertain times in history. Months after we have battled the dreadful Covid-19 pandemic, the shadows of which still linger though, the modern industries are still reeling today.
It is the medical industry, doctors, nurses, medical staff, and their services that helped humanity fight the coronavirus disease. The medical staff and medical services not only reinforced humanity with hope and with all the medicines and medical equipment, but they also safeguarded their fellow humans with their lives.
Dubbed as one of the largest and fastest growing sectors in the USA, the healthcare industry has over 22 million workers, which accounts for over 14% of the total population of the US.
The healthcare industry, being huge and one of the oldest sectors in existence has a sizeable portion of the population working in it. It was the medical sector with its physicians and staff that showed outstanding professionalism and was fuelled by an indomitable spirit of the savior, which single-handedly drove things home.
However, it is also true that this industry was most exposed to the Covid-19 virus and had to bear the brunt of the Covid-19 disease.
The Ill-Effects of the Covid19 pandemic and how the medical support staff is battling them!
Anywhere between 80,000 to 180,000 healthcare workers and medical support staff could have died during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the WHO estimates. This is an irreparable loss. All of these lives were not ordinary lives but those that saved lives, motivated people, instilled courage and confidence in humanity, and deserve the utmost respect of all.
Apart from the medical staff who died, a huge number of medical workers have fallen ill, many of whom are yet to cope with their illnesses, long Covid-19 symptoms, burnout, and more Covid19-induced ailments.
A staggering 1 out of every 5 medical workers left their jobs since the pandemic broke out. The medical industry parted with more than 18% of its medical workers. This is a real matter of concern that is bothering today's healthcare units, practices, and more.
The practices of today are devoid of the adequate number of staff needed. Besides, the industry also lacks medical staff who possess the right skill set, except for some exceptions. Thus, the healthcare units and practices need to be there with the medical staff who are experienced and still with their previous providers.
Main Challenges the Medical Support Staff Face in the Post-Pandemic Era!
The medical staff including the nurses, physicians, and other medical and support staff of the healthcare industry forever fall prey to ever-burdening work pressure. This results in burnout being witnessed every so often.
There are numerous challenges that the medical support staff and others working as healthcare professionals face. They are:
Physical burnouts
The healthcare industry is common to burnout, and the emergency medicines department reports the most burnout. As per recent reports, over 55% of front-line healthcare workers have reported burnout. The healthcare professionals working in the urology, neurology, and nephrology departments most commonly face burnout issues.
Contrary to the common idea that burnout is only limited to physicians, it is important to note that 43% of the nurses also show symptoms of moderate to severe burnout. Yes, the nurses, support staff, and others related to the medical industry, all are vulnerable to burnout.
Emotional burnouts
The burnouts don't always end in physical exhaustion. In a large number of cases, the burnouts also wreck professionals emotionally, making them emotionally weak. Emotional burnout is a major challenge that healthcare professionals face, which directly affects the medical staff services. The medical support staff and others who are diagnosed with emotional burnout usually take longer to recover from the symptoms than those who are physically burned out. The emotionally burned-out medical staff often feel like they are stuck or trapped in a situation, and have reported feeling like they have no control of what happens in their lives.
Economic challenges
Along with emotional and physical burnouts that the medical staff and the support staff of the healthcare industry have reported, a sizeable portion of them has also faced financial breakdowns due to many industries being downscaled or ramped down. Dealing with these economic challenges is challenging. Thus, the medical staff who have reported financial challenges must be helped by their providers in every possible way.
Increasing work pressure
The work pressure of the medical staff is always an issue. The burdens at work never seem to come down for them. Though the worst phase has already passed, the work pressure has never really lessened. This work pressure needs to be lowered by the medical practice and other healthcare providers. Doing this will not only help improve the quality of the healthcare provided to the patients but also will motivate the medical workers to work passionately and will, in turn, help the patients get the best possible care.
GrowPractice is one of the most trusted medical office solution providers that helps in automatizing the majority of the medical office functions, which immensely helps the practices and medical units to effectively lower the work pressure.
Adaptability to the work and work culture
The coronavirus disease broke out and has taken a turn for the worse. It started receding and we have almost passed the worst, however, most things are hardly the same and can match their pre-pandemic states.
This is why most industries are facing numerous challenges to bring their offices, departments, and overall work culture to the desired state. The healthcare industry is not an exception here.
These challenges are not only associated with the healthcare providers, the governance, or productivity but also concern the medical staff and support staff, who are facing real-time issues to cope with the work and work culture post-pandemic.
Top Ways to Support Medical Staff to Steer Them Right Through the Times of Uncertainty!
Medical staff or healthcare workers are indispensable assets not just to the healthcare industry but to the country and the world in general. This is because the huge responsibility of healthcare lies upon the shoulder. So, if you are associated with a medical practice or with the healthcare industry in general, it is important that your medical staff remain completely satisfied with their work and in their lives and are passionate and motivated about their work. Here are some of the most effective strategies that you can opt for to support the medical staff so that they can continue with all the medical staff services as is ideal:
Minimizing the work pressure on the medical staff
The work pressure is the first thing that needs to be taken off the shoulders of the medical staff. To do this the medical units and practices first need to lessen the work done manually and digitalize the mundane jobs. This is largely helped with the implementation of patient and practice management solutions offered by providers like GrowPractice. The medical office software provider has saved more than 500 hours for each of its clients after they started using the GrowPractice solutions for their medical offices.
Reducing the work pressure will not just help the present employees do their work passionately and serve the patients well, but will also help retain them.
Offering them proper packages and adequate hikes in pay
The financial constraint is huge when discussing the medical staff and their chances of retaining their jobs with the old providers. Lack of decent payments and pay cuts have been a growing problem across industries all around the globe. This has hugely increased the patients' insecurities, thereby pushing them to switch their providers.
So, along with providing them the work, the providers today, must also look into their packages and provide them adequate salary hikes by reviewing their salary quarterly or bi-yearly.
Reducing medical staff layoffs
As soon as the Covid-19 virus spread, companies and businesses began to shutter and layoffs started increasing. This happened with several departments in the healthcare industry too. However, with the withdrawal of the deadly virus, all the industries including the healthcare sector, need to stop laying off their workforce. Reducing medical staff layoffs at your practice would go a long way to support the whole community of medical staff and immensely benefit the healthcare industry.
Bonding with them
Establishing a good relationship between a practice manager and the medical staff is almost as important as building a decent bonding between the patients and practices. A perfect staff-provider bonding would definitely help the practice perform at the best of its capabilities. Along with that, it will also help the employees cope with their problems better and work dedicatedly, as it is meant to be working in the healthcare industry, with more sincerity and attention.
Arranging intensive training
"Practice makes a man perfect", goes an age-old adage. Proper training sessions need to be conducted by the medical practices to introduce the medical staff to cutting-edge working styles, tools, and technology. These pieces of training will ensure they grasp things well and manage them efficiently.
Asking for feedback and reviews from the medical staff
There is nothing better than learning from a mistake. It is just the same even in the healthcare industry where feedback and online reviews play a very important role both for the patients and practices. Along with asking the patients to share feedback and online reviews, a practice shall also be equipped with the facilities that will allow the medical staff and support staff to fill in feedback and online reviews.
Boosting the team spirit
There is only the team spirit that can change the entire work done by an organization. If the team is in good spirits, it can be the most productive, while when the team members are disheartened or dissatisfied, it can become just the opposite.
Therefore, to help a team function well, and gear the spirits of the individuals working in a team, the medical staff must be connected with the team, in general, and ask for them proactively. It is also essential that the team is well rested to work well, and is actively supported by their provider in their times of need.
Some other ways to extend the supporting hands to the medical staff are :
• Granting them enough leaves
• Extending decent insurance plans
• Providing them with adequate medical aid
• Communicating with them well
• Offering counseling sessions
• Extending a list of amenities
• Recognizing the medical staff, their talents, and the medical staff services
How GrowPractice Actively Supports the Medical Staff to Boost Patient Services!
GrowPractice has already been referred to as one of the prominent names when it comes to healthcare service solutions. The medical office software and systems provided by GrowPractice help the medical practices stop wasting their time and that of their medical staff and start focusing on the patients they see. These solutions from GrowPractice would thus, be a huge help for the medical staff as well.
Here are some insights into how GrowPractice actively supports the medical staff:
• Reduce the workload - GrowPractice reduces the staff burden by automatizing the basic things/processes.
• Improves Security - With secure, HIPAA-compliant practices, GrowPractice adds more credibility to the practices.
• Boost Revenue - It boosts patient appointments and multiplies revenues with easy appointment schedulers.
• Improves Staff Morale - With positive feedback and patient reviews pouring in, GrowPractice solutions help improve staff morale.
• Reduce Wastage of Medical Staff's Time - GrowPractice solutions allow practices to check in and intake patients in seconds, which minimizes time wastage.
