Karen Howey, administrator of Matrix Surgery Center in Saginaw, Mich., recommends talking to your physicians — especially those who have recently joined your facility — about the reliability of their preference cards. "We often say, 'We'll make sure you have everything,' and they laugh at us and say, 'Those [preference cards] haven't been updated in 20 years. I don't even think I use half the stuff that's on that thing.'"
Up-to-date physician preference cards are essential for great staff-physician relationships because they demonstrate that the ASC respects the physician's time and wants the physician to work as efficiently as possible. Ms. Howey recommends your staff work with key personnel at the physician's office to update the cards.
"The doctor's not going to sit down and go through it with you, but the RN or tech will," she says. Ask the physician's nurse or surgical tech to go through the list with you; the out-of-date items should be obvious to them. "Just making little changes for [the physicians] makes them feel so special, knowing that somebody took the time to realize," she says.
Read more tips for ASC administrators:
-Administrator Tip: How to Get Physicians to Attend Partnership Meetings
-Best Practice: Physician Coding for ASC Procedures
Up-to-date physician preference cards are essential for great staff-physician relationships because they demonstrate that the ASC respects the physician's time and wants the physician to work as efficiently as possible. Ms. Howey recommends your staff work with key personnel at the physician's office to update the cards.
"The doctor's not going to sit down and go through it with you, but the RN or tech will," she says. Ask the physician's nurse or surgical tech to go through the list with you; the out-of-date items should be obvious to them. "Just making little changes for [the physicians] makes them feel so special, knowing that somebody took the time to realize," she says.
Read more tips for ASC administrators:
-Administrator Tip: How to Get Physicians to Attend Partnership Meetings
-Best Practice: Physician Coding for ASC Procedures