Great administrators arrive at their profession from a variety of backgrounds, philosophies, strengths ... and, yes, even weaknesses. If you gathered 10 great administrators together and asked for a list of the most important attributes for an ophthalmic administrator, you would probably end up with at least 11 lists.

That said, here is a synopsis of the most important success factors we have seen for the country’s leading ophthalmic executives.

HR MANAGEMENT

Human resource (HR) management skills lead this list. Newer administrators must make the shift from thinking, “The employees are adults. I shouldn’t have to manage them so closely,” to the reality that even motivated employees perform better when they are managed thoughtfully and professionally. Experienced administrators know that the practice runs more smoothly when communication is clear.

What truly makes or breaks the practice’s customer service reputation, beyond a skilled surgeon’s hands and a beautifully decorated office, is your staff’s presentation to patients. Well-managed and cared-for staff are crucial. Practices that ignore this and do not prioritize enhanced HR management skills for the supervisors struggle to get beyond a basic level of success.

DRIVE BEHAVIOR CHANGES

Great administrators understand that personality and behavior are two different things. We cannot expect someone’s personality to change because we told them they are not great at connecting with their work team or patients, but we can motivate them (and teach them how) to change their behavior.

For example, a doctor in your practice is socially awkward with the clinic staff. He presents as grumpy and snaps at the staff due to his discomfort. Yet he is very professional and well-liked by his patients. In this case, the administrator must:

• Clearly state the significant issue to the doctor.
• Set precise expectations along with specific suggestion on how to meet them.
• Reinforce these expectations consistently.
• Monitor the goals to see if they are being met timely and accurately.
• Provide feedback that is encouraging/appreciative or re-directs/assists them to do better.
• Consistently repeat the monitoring.

When an administrator follows this process and it is supported by the practice owners, it gives the management team the ability to drive changes and improvements in focus and behavior. Anything less than this full-circle process falls short.

COMMUNICATION

This includes excellent personal communication skills and the importance of expecting enhanced communication throughout the whole process. Top examples include:

• Establishing routine and productive meeting schedules. Meetings include:
  • Managing partner/administrator – weekly or bi-weekly
  • Management team, including the managing partner – bi-weekly
  • Department meetings – monthly
  • All staff meetings – quarterly
• Developing a meeting agenda that focuses the attendees on problem-solving. Solely passing along information with little interaction with the group is boring and unproductive. Discussing ideas such as how can we improve our overall customer service or reduce patient waiting time not only takes advantage of the brainpower in the room, but it also sends the message that you are interested in what the attendees have to say. This method of inclusion can turn what may have been perceived as an unproductive meeting into a productive one that solves problems and improves teamwork.
• Fighting the need to immediately respond with a solution to solve a problem, without taking the opportunity to do research or give it thought. It’s OK to say, “I’d like to think about this. It deserves some thought,” to the doctors and staff. This thoughtful response makes the employee feel listened to while providing the administrator time to consider other ways to proceed.
• Reducing any harsh responses. Having a directive style doesn’t have to equate to a harsh reply. Be consistently firm, but don’t veer off into being “severe.”

PROBLEM SOLVING

Problem-solving acumen takes your practice to the next level of performance and success. We saw this firsthand as COVID-19-related issues created an inordinate number of challenges needing immediate resolution. Administrators must be able to solidly approach problem solving with confidence and an organized approach. One way experienced administrators do this is by including a representative sample of staff, physicians and managers that “touch” the problem and solve it promptly and decisively — not necessarily perfectly at the first try. They leave room for mid-course corrections, which is better than delaying a response while waiting for perfection.

Another important key to problem-solving is applying a root cause analysis approach. This means not jumping to conclusions and taking the time to search for a root problem below the “obvious” one. Otherwise, you are only addressing the symptoms and the real issues remain unresolved ... and keep cropping up.

PRIORITIZATION

Productive, organized administrators don’t keep everything in their heads. They utilize checklists (daily, weekly, monthly) and task list apps to help balance the top priorities and less important but necessary items. Setting priorities and completing tasks that coordinate with the practice owners’ priorities requires being organized.

NUMERACY AND TRACKING PERFORMANCE

Remember the adage, “That which can be measured can be improved.” Leaders must measure success and failure. This requires having comfort with the basics of numeracy, benchmarking and key performance indicator tracking. Many administrators feel under-prepared in this area and want to develop these skills but are intimidated. Building numeracy skills requires a building blocks approach and additional focused time to gain new skills. Don’t shy away from developing numeric skills, which constitute a sharp dividing line between good and great managers.

EFFECTIVE DELEGATION

This is a big challenge for administrators at all levels of experience. They need to evaluate if the work they are doing is utilizing their skills to the highest purpose and value for the practice — or if they are holding on to mundane tasks out of old habits. Once an administrator begins to see the value in delegating routine tasks and replacing them with higher-level problem-solving goals, financial analysis and other areas that practice owners deem as higher priorities, the shift in executive effectiveness is noticeable.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Eliminate barriers to better time management and reduced procrastination. Explore the specifics in order to modify the outcome. List the barriers and address each one. Inefficient time management can create a multitude of practice problems, including delayed problem-solving, low staff morale and unhappy practice owners.

CONCLUSION

Most ophthalmic administrators are innately hard-working, loyal employees who want to perform their best for the practice owners, employees, patients and themselves. Whether you are an administrator or the managing partner supervising your practice’s administrator, work to close the gaps between administrative performance and the ideals discussed here. OM

Corinne Z. Wohl, MHSA, COE, is president of C. Wohl & Associates, Inc., a practice management consulting firm. Corinne earned her Masters of Health Services Administration degree at The George Washington University and has over 30 years of hospital, physician practice management and management consulting experience. Her latest book, co-authored with John Pinto, is “UP: Taking Ophthalmic Administrators and Their Management Teams to the Next Level of Skill, Performance and Career Satisfaction.” For information on how to purchase this book or other inquiries, she can be contacted at czwohl@gmail.com or 609-410-2932.

John B. Pinto is the founder of J. Pinto & Associates, Inc., an ophthalmic practice consulting firm established in 1979. He is the most published author in the world on the subject of ophthalmic management and economics. The firm serves organizations worldwide, ranging from solo practices to high-volume market leaders, teaching centers and medical product companies, providing strategic planning, financial benchmarking and analysis, operations enhancement and marketing counsel. He can be contacted at pintoinc@aol.com or 619-223-2233.