Here is a continuation of Silkin Management Group’s multi-part series on why you should hold daily morning meetings in your office.
In our first three articles on various Silkin Management Group blog sites we presented 8 reasons to hold morning meetings in your practice. These are suggestions that Silkin Management Group consultants go over with their clients to improve efficiency and productivity. The first 8 reasons given were coordination on 1) scheduling emergencies, 2) making the day’s schedule work, 3) filling openings in the schedule, 4) identifying the day’s new patients, 5) coordination on medical alerts, 6) confirming lab work is done, 7) coordination on financial matters, 
coordination on insurance matters.
Here are two more reasons to hold morning musters:
• Knowledge of Patient Information: A practice should not only be capturing each patient’s clinical and management information but also their relevant personal information. Gathering and updating personal information prevents the doctor and staff from committing social errors. Carefully listen to patient’s/client’s conversations when they are chatting with you in the office. For example a patient may tell an assistant that they are getting married. After cheerfully acknowledging the patient and finding out when the happy occasion will happen, note the information in the computer and on the chart and share it with the necessary staff. A card or gift could go out to the patient near the time of the wedding. Any relevant personal history that you can find on the patient to help increase the office’s rapport with the patient is great to have and will cement long term office relationships with the patient, as long as you use the information properly. Sharing important information at the morning meeting will help staff in their interaction with a patient/client that day.
• Personal Friends or Relatives of the Doctor or Staff: Use the morning meeting to identify scheduled friends and family members. If it is a friend or family member of the doctor, the doctor should advise the staff of any previous financial arrangements made with the patient. As an obvious example, if it is the doctor’s spouse, financial arrangements are ignored. But what if it is the doctor’s sister? Find out if separate financial arrangements have been made by the doctor so the person is treated appropriately. Friends or relatives of staff should be shared at the morning meeting so they can be properly addressed.
Keep an eye out for new Silkin Management Group articles that will continue this list and be posted on one of our Silkin Management Group blog sites.
Jono LoBue
Silkin Management Group Consultant
You can find out more about Silkin Management Group by visiting our website at www.silkinmanageentgroup.com