Successful onboarding is important for all employers in a medical practice, but when you’re hiring new billing staff, your onboarding technique will have a big impact on not only that employee, but your entire medical billing process and future cashflow. There are a lot of little details that need to be mastered and your new staff member needs to get up to speed in a hurry.
Onboarding medical billing staff is designed to not only let your new hires know what their own responsibilities are, but about your workplace rules and culture; they also need to learn how to integrate with your other team members. Do a good job of onboarding and your new employee will blend in from the start and have a positive impact not only on your billing, but on your overall morale, too. According to the Society for Human Resources Management, 91% of employees who go through a formal onboarding program are still with the employer a year later.
Start with the Basics
Every new employee needs to know not only where to clock in and out, but where the bathroom and breakroom are, what everyone does for lunch and what your written and unwritten rules are. Introduce everyone, from your providers to your other office staff, so your new hire knows where to go for help and begins to feel like part of the team.
Clarify Roles and Expectations
If you already have a written list of responsibilities, that is a great place to start. If you have an established member of the billing team that can help walk your new hire through your process, they’ll be able to proceed with confidence. If your new hire is replacing someone, having the departing employee train them first can help, if the parting was amicable. If not, another team member can step in and do so; your practice billing software provider is also an asset at this point.
Used Standardized Office Practices to Make Everyone’s Job Easier
You should have a standard system in place that details what to do with new claims, how to cross-check codes and even what to do with declined claims. By creating standard rules for each aspect of billing and collections, you can be sure that your billing and revenues stay on track, even when you experience employee turnover or your team grows.
Don’t Overlook Security
From HIPAA regulations to maintaining the integrity of your own network, anyone who accesses your system needs to be aware of basic safety and security rules. If you have any rules regarding passwords, internet access or even mobile device access, they need to be clearly relayed to your new hire so he or she can actively work to protect your assets from the very first day.
Schedule Checkpoints
It may take a few days for your new team member to get up to speed, but making it a point to stop by at the end of the first day and get together at the end of the first week can not only make them feel welcome, it gives you feedback about your process, too. You can be sure they have everything they need to succeed and get some feedback from them about your workflow and onboarding process whie it is still fresh.
Taking the time to onboard your billing staff the right way can pay off in terms of retention and employee loyalty and makes it easy for your new staff member to blend in and get up to speed in a hurry.
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