Is Your Staff as Sharp as Your Scalpel?
By Robin Rumancik

As you’re no doubt aware, communicating effectively with your patients is key to providing the best health care possible. After all, you can’t get to the root of a patient’s health problem if you and the patient don’t interact openly and honestly.

The same can be said for the health of your practice. Do your staff’s communication skills support patient treatment, your reputation, and the livelihood of your business?

The Texas Medical Association’s new publication, Rx for Success: Patient-Centered Communication for Physicians, Managers, and Staff, is designed to help practice teams develop the responsive, reliable, and empathic communication skills that patients expect and deserve.

The CME course, which is appropriate for physicians, nonphysician practitioners, practice managers, and office staff in all specialties, explores proven techniques to improve communication, including:

• Estimating insurance benefits in common coverage scenarios;
• Implementing efficient processes for collecting payments;
• Addressing difficult patients; and
• Appropriately terminating a patient-physician relationship.

As with most of TMA’s CME programs, Rx for Success is free for TMA members and their practice staff thanks to a generous sponsorship by the TMA Insurance Trust.

And for more CME on effective communication among patients or your staff, check out Recipes for a Happy Staff, Create a Winning Team, and Strategies to Improve Patient Collections – all at the TMA Education Center.