APPs Make the Workplace
“A Great Place to Work and a Great Place to Receive Care”

In Healthcare’s Bad WrAPP, we asked the following questions:

• What can we do as APPs to motivate our support team while staying within our boundaries as organizational employees?  
• How can we make things better for the teams we rely upon to care for our patients?  
• How can we boost morale without taking money out of our own pockets? 

The AMA recently released a webinar series led by Justin Holtzman, MD, that addresses the recruitment and retention of medical support staff [1].  Dr. Holtzman says that his business goal is to make his medical offices “a great place to work and a great place to receive care [1].”  Dr. Holtzman analyzed the management styles of top-employee-rated U.S. companies such as Trader Joe’s, the Ritz-Carlton, and Nordstrom to determine the best steps in creating such a work environment.  While financial incentives play a role in his staff recruitment and retention achievements, Dr. Holtzman emphasizes the importance of promoting collegiality, empowering employees to make decisions, allowing employees to play a role in office problem-solving, and creating a culture of inclusiveness and equity [1].  

Dr. Holtzman uses a great example of empowering a medical assistant (MA) while training them with the skill of how to room a patient: 

Step 1:  Provide the MA with the goal: 

1. Get the patient to their room
2. Obtain the necessary information for the visit
3. Prepare the patient for the clinician’s arrival

Step 2:  Demonstrate how this task has been achieved historically

Step 3:  Empower the team member to determine their own best way to room a patient [1].  

As APPs, we may not be directly responsible for training our support staff, but we’re usually present to observe the training process.  We can give the employee some autonomy, and as long as their proposed methods are efficient, thorough, and professional, we can give them some control over their work. 

Dr. Holtzman says he welcomes employee input concerning their work environment [5].  Harvard’s Work and Well-Being Initiative uses the term “worker voice” to describe employee influence over their work environment [2].  For healthcare environments, allowing the support staff to help identify problems and design their solutions leads to organizational improvements and increases employee commitment to the company [2]. 

Dr. Holtzman also discusses the importance of cross-training so that employees can help one another and anyone can help with anything [1].  APPs can encourage their staff to undertake cross-training and teamwork.  The MAs should learn to pick up a ringing phone if the front desk gets busy.  Clinical staff can show receptionists the basics of rooming patients if the MAs are backed up.  You can lead by example and room a patient yourself!  There is no better way to foster teamwork than to BE an active team member.  Your team will appreciate the help from one another, and they will appreciate the fact that you stepped up to help the team.

What do you do to empower your support team members?  

Have you witnessed any benefits to listening to “worker voice?”  

Do you think cross-training between front and back office staff is helpful?  

Nikki Rataj Casady, DMSc, PA-C

email@appcolleague.org