I am often invited into the inner circle of an O&P practice as a consultant conducting a practice-wide assessment. My mission is to evaluate the practice’s current operating procedures and pain points and identify areas for improvement. As an outside consultant, I am viewed as a guest who is expected to provide the practice with the diagnosis and a detailed prescription to implement the needed changes.
After the visit, I deliver a written report and a statement of action, recommended steps the practice should make to see improvement. This statement usually includes the specifics of how, why, and what changes need to be made.
Boom! Done! Problem solved.
Nope, it is not that easy. Why, with all the missing pieces to success handed to them, are the recipients so resistant to change? I assure you it is not because they don’t want to be profitable or work smarter or decrease expenses. As humans we are not necessarily wired to resist change, but, in my experience, all too often do.
For example, if I wanted to trade in your 2003 Toyota Camry that has become unreliable for a 2023 Range Rover for less than it cost to fix your old car, how many of you would resist that change? Like you, I’m thinking no one would resist that change.
Now let’s say I wanted to trade in your 20-year-old patient management software and upgrade it to the latest, most powerful EMR that in the long run would improve the efficiency of your staff, your cash flow, and the patient experience. What would you guess the overall response to that might be?
What would possibly cause any hesitation to jump right in?
In my experience, there are several reasons why people and organizations are resistant to change:
Job insecurity
Employees may think, “If we change the way things have always been done, and it is easier, faster, and more efficient, will they still need me?” I have worked with companies that are still doing payroll manually with timesheets and handing out paystubs—not because there aren’t more efficient, cost-effective payroll companies out there, but I find it’s simply because the person doing the payroll has been doing it that way for years and it still works. True story: I am aware of a company that pays an employee a full-day expense to travel to each location and hand deliver paper payroll checks.
Cost
Whether we are talking about an incompetent employee, your 20-year-old software, or your slow outdated hardware, people hesitate at the cost of improvements. People resist change despite an obvious cost-saving benefit that would come with the change by ignoring the other costs of not upgrading or not leaping into the change. It might cost $150 for a second or third monitor for your administrative staff, but how much would their efficiency increase if they can review your schedule, book the next appointment, and address your work in progress all at once. I have worked with clients still using paper charts and EMR software because staff members or even management still like paper. True story: I am aware of a few companies using more than one EMR system simultaneously—because not everyone likes the same software. Eeek!
Fear of failure
Of course changes come with associated learning curves that also require us to break old habits. “What if I don’t understand the new software?” “We never collected patient copays before. What if I fail at this new expectation?”
I don’t believe we should change things just because we have done it that way for too long. But I also don’t believe we should continue to do things a certain way just because we have always done it that way.
Your task is to look around your practice, your workspace, and identify two or three things that you believe are not serving you or your practice the way it deserves.
Does your staff need new equipment? Is it time to investigate a cloud server? Do you need new staff? Is there a more efficient way to achieve a goal and you’re tired of complaining about the same old, same old? Or perhaps a consultant has already come into your practice and made sound recommendations that you were once hesitant to implement. I encourage you to embrace the change.
Erin Cammarata is president and owner of CBS Medical Billing and Consulting. She can be contacted at [email protected].
