As COVID fatigue truly sets in, daily challenges for practice managers have been amplified. DONNA GLENN explains how ophthalmic practices can adapt.
Thank goodness COVID has passed and we can all move on. Is that how you feel as a person managing a health service or practice? Or do you feel the fall out is just starting to become apparent?
For the past two years, information overload, changing protocols and concern for the welfare of staff, colleagues and patients – along with the novelty of Zoom meetings – kept the adrenaline levels high and ophthalmology practices humming. But now it seems the economy and COVID fatigue is truly setting in and health service managers are being challenged to find the magic to hold it together and move forward.
This issue seems prevalent across the board in healthcare, with some common challenges:
Recruitment
Finding staff that have the skills and the drive to work.
It’s become difficult to find people that want to work in healthcare at any level – cleaners, administration, health support workers and nurses. The recruitment pool does not seem to have the depth required.
Retention
It is harder than ever to find staff that have loyalty, and this is driven by a series of factors. Due to recruitment being difficult, staff that remain are often working harder than previously and possibly more than they want.
Managing appointment books is an ongoing challenge, exacerbated by chronic conditions that were not adequately managed during lockdown phases due to severe limitations on the nature of eye health consultations. Further, doctors and staff have needed to cancel clinics at short notice due to influenza or COVID. This is a juggle that does not seem to be easing.
Staff are tired, and perhaps less engaged than previously.
Economic forces are also wearing away the otherwise loyal staff member who may move roles based on renumeration rather than job satisfaction, convenience or pure loyalty. It’s understandable that staff need to make wise economic decisions to meet
their financial commitments noting the increasing rise in the cost of living.
Staff stress and anxiety
Practice managers need to be aware of the state of staff mental health. Recent media reports have shown that healthcare support workers, be it administration or managers, are walking away from the healthcare industry.
Patients are being reported as more demanding, and practice support workers are being subjected to abuse at levels never seen before.
How will this be managed?
Practices will need to look for efficiencies; they need to see more patients in the same time frame.
Systems need to be streamlined – time and motion studies may help to identify areas with the capacity to increase productivity. Integrated software or other technological tools which save time should be researched.
To stay competitive and recruit and retain staff, wages will increase and, generally, so will all other costs. This will need to be passed on to health consumers.
For those patients that cannot afford it, they will move to the public sector – placing even more pressures on public hospital outpatient clinics.
Regionally this is going to hurt the system that has no capacity and is already struggling.
It is important that patient care is not the victim in all of this, and corners are not cut.
The healthcare sector will need to be supported by government in the way of Medicare rebates or concessions in other financial components of the business.
Diagnostic and software vendors will also need to support their customers with technology that saves them time, while simultaneously improving outcomes.
And healthcare managers are going to have to dust off their wand and perform the magic they are known for.
Practice managers are a profession of strong, multi-skilled people. They are HR managers, financial controllers, health advocates, visionaries and leaders.
This may be their chance to shine as a profession and wipe the misconception of glorified receptionists by demonstrating the important role they hold in Australia’s healthcare system.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Donna Glenn has been the business manager at Gordon Eye Surgery in Sydney for over 15 years. She is also a member of the RANZCO Practice Managers Committee.
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