Eyeworld

25 EW NEWS & OPINION July 2018 like profit margin, labor cost-per- cent, and facility utilization levels. 10. In their first 90 days, your admin- istrator should have: a. Read all meaningful contracts; b. Come up to speed on any open legal matters; c. Observed every lay staff posi- tion in the practice; d. Observed clinic and gone to surgery with most providers; e. Had meaningful conferencing time with all of the mid-level managers and a significant cross-section of rank-and-file staff; f. Set up preferred staff and de- partment meeting intervals; g. Learned how to pull basic reports from your practice management system; h. Made critical decisions about inappropriate staffing or poli- cies; i. Provided the board with a writ- ten report along the lines of: "Here are my observations and recommendations for the next 12 months." EW in enough detail to give your administrator a sense of how you make decisions. 6. Pass the mantle of authority crisply from the old administra- tor to the new one. In ideal set- tings, an all-hands reception or routine group meeting is held to welcome the new administrator. 7. Even if your former administra- tor has been terminated under difficult circumstances, make every effort to connect your new and old administrator. Even under-performing administrators who are replaced have legacy knowledge your new administra- tor will need. It's best policy to separate from your old admin- istrator in a manner that not only preserves their dignity and their good will, but also sends a signal to your new administra- tor: "We're good guys and treat folks well even if things don't work out." Take special care to not speak disparagingly of your former administrator; find a kind, professional way to say, "Sally had a lot of real strengths we admired, but marketing was not one of them. We're looking for- ward to your ideas in this area." 8. As difficult as it can be, start your new administrator with 100 points, rather than with zero points and adding slowly over time (which is a common thing for skeptical ophthalmologists to do). Humans have a well-tuned sense for whether or not they are liked and trusted and kept in the loop on sensitive matters. If your new administrator senses your coolness or conditional friend- liness, they will not feel secure enough to do their best work for you. 9. Make it an obligation of the job that your new administrator comes to a memorized command of the key performance indicators of the practice within their first 90 days on the job. Just as you learned the norms for cup-to-disc ratio, IOP, and visual acuity early in your training, your adminis- trator should memorize things I N S T R U M E N T S | S I N G L E U S E | D R Y E Y E | B I O L O G I C S Lacrivera® by Stephens Instruments offers a full line of premium punctal occlusion and dry eye diagnostic products. Our VeraPlug FlexFit™ includes an industry leading 45 day retention pledge with the same high quality and superior service that you've come to expect from Stephens. Stephens – more than instruments. Look to Stephens for dry eye management. VeraPlug™ FlexFit ™ Stephens Instruments | 2500 Sandersville Rd | Lexington KY 40511 USA Toll Free ( USA ) 800.354.7848 | info@stephensinst.com | stephensinst.com © 2018 Stephens Instruments. All rights reserved. Mr. Pinto is president of J. Pinto & Associates Inc., an ophthalmic practice management consulting firm in San Diego. His latest ASCRS•ASOA books, Simple: The Inner Game of Ophthalmic Practice Success and the Fifth Edition of John Pinto's Little Green Book of Ophthalmology, are now available at www.asoa. org. He can be contacted at pintoinc@aol.com or 619-223-2233. Ms. Wohl is president of C. Wohl & Associates Inc., a practice management con- sulting firm. She earned her masters of health services administration de- gree at George Washington University and has more than 30 years of hospital and physician practice management experience. She can be contacted at czwohl@gmail.com or 609-410-2932. About the authors

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