Challenges of Practice Ownership: Staffing

Over the past two weeks we have explored various challenges that practice owners are faced with.

The challenges we have discussed so far have been the industry competition and compliance, with this three-part series wrapping up with the common challenge of staffing.

Staffing

“Staffing” itself is a very broad challenge that is faced by many business owners. It can refer to the recruitment, retention, finding staff to fit the company culture, the co-existence of varying generations working together, and many more different challenges.

The number of doctors, practitioners, nurses, administrative and support staff vary from practice to practice. The staffing number is influenced by many different factors, including the volume of patients, the number and type of services your practice is delivering, and the length of consultations.

Having a clear understanding of how many staff you need at one time can be quite difficult. If there is not enough staff, there will be time delays, disgruntled clients and mistakes. Yet, if there are too many staff, your practice will suffer a loss of income as they are being paid for waiting.

Finding the perfect balance is absolutely essential, and catering for them accordingly is critical. Providing your practice staff with a working space that reflects their workflow and functions facilitates greater productivity and efficiency, improving your staff and client satisfaction and overall service delivery.

Not only this, but designing and constructing your practice in a way to future-proof it is vital. Staffing trends have changed in the modern medical workplace, with many businesses incorporating a concierge. Not only this, but situations and circumstances change; perhaps there is a residential housing boom in your practice’s suburb, which in 2-5 years may impact your practice by creating a greater influx of patients, of which you will need to hire more staff to keep up with. However, if you hire more staff and there is no room in your practice to accommodate them, it will get cramped, confusing and inefficient.

Don’t make the mistake of not planning your practice space for your staff. It is important that a clear understanding of staffing requirements and needs are specified during the vision and strategy meeting, before your practice commencement.

Contact Interite Healthcare Interiors today, and let us help you create your successful medical space.