Get an invoice paid.
That is what you are trying to do and is the desired outcome.
The outcome is always the same. Getting an invoice paid. The total focus must be applied to this outcome at the expense of other items. Making sure the private consultant surgeon is paid is the task. The total focus must be on that. The problem arises when total focus is not possible.
For example: in the middle of invoicing for 12 consultations and 4 medical episodes the telephone rings. More often than that, however, is an email alert pinging up! Even worse than that is the person responsible for medical billing decides, as they don’t really enjoy doing that specific task. They do something else instead. The other distraction from focus is, of course, other people’s demands.
MHM once had a client who one morning called 8 times within 35 minutes. Afterward complained his medical billing wasn’t being done speedily enough. It didn’t take a genius to work out that the 8 phone calls were actually a total distraction.
It doesn’t really matter what the distraction is. Although with modern technology advancing so much over the years, the likelihood of distractions has increased ten-fold. For example, I may be in the middle of a task and my mobile pings to say an email has arrived. It may also ping because a text has arrived. The opportunity for distraction(s) is enormous. Yet these distractions can remove focus. They can stop processing an invoice correctly, resolving an issue that is preventing an invoice getting paid or they can even stop an invoice being raised in the first place.
Modern technology is great. It enables MHM to communicate with its clients efficiently. MHM can provide data to clients equally efficiently. It also means MHM can raise invoices electronically and deliver them at the push of a button. But it can also be a blessing in disguise if MHM were to let it distract from focusing on the job at hand. Thus it is worth repeating that the objective is to get paid. If the technology on occasion stops that, then remove the technology for a while.
Ignoring technology when technology actually prevents achievement of the planned outcome is not as silly as it sounds.
For example: when I’m raising medical invoices for a client, I switch my email off. Thus there are no distractions caused by emails arriving. Before anyone raises the question of an email being important, may I suggest whilst emails may indeed be important seldom are they time critical? They are normally requests for data, asking a question or the arrival of a remittance. All three examples are important but they are not, despite what people may claim, time critical.
My favourite example of this is the person who was tasked with locating new premises for MHM. She emailed me one-morning last year but when I didn’t immediately respond, telephoned to confirm if I had received her email. The world will not end and a private medical practice won’t immediately collapse if an email, a phone call or even a text are not immediately responded to.
That is not to say a patient inquiry can be ignored. Have someone designated to answer the phone. It look’s awful if a patient calls and the phone isn’t answered.
But don’t have the same person responsible for medical billing AT THE SAME TIME. If you do the phone calls and/emails will provide the distraction to cause the planned outcome to be missed.
Medical billing is not the easiest thing to do in the world. If the outcome is expected to be prompt and complete payment of an invoice for medical services, then focus should be directed to just that.
You know what happens if I switch my email off during the morning or I have the text alert set to silent?
Nothing.
Except I raise numerous invoices for clients, resolve issues with insurance companies and make sure MHM clients are paid.
pete@medicalhealthcaremanagement.co.uk
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