Same-Day Surgery Manager: Answers on cross-training, $250,000 request from doc
Answers on cross-training, $250,000 request from doc
By Stephen W. Earnhart, MS
CEO
Earnhart & Associates
Austin, TX
Question: Is cross-training of staff really that cost-effective? I have several of my staff threaten to quit if I force them to work in PACU. I am forcing the cross-training based upon an article you wrote in Same-Day-Surgery some time ago.
Answer: Cross-training of staff can be accomplished in three ways:
- voluntarily, meaning the staff is eager to learn and willing to learn;
- forcibly, your situation, which will probably not work with these particular staff members;
- reality-based, whereas the staff themselves see it as job security, a resume builder, and an opportunity for self-satisfaction to be asked to be trained.
I would not hold out much confidence that you are going to accomplish your goal as long as your staff dictates policy. You might want to have them speak to other cross-trained staff at other facilities to get the nurses' reactions after they have been cross-trained. Or, my preference in this case, start interviewing.
Question: We are starting a new surgery center and are considering doing urology cases there. However, the urologists tell us that they need a dedicated "wet room" with a split leg, fixed overhead imaging unit in order to do their 75 cases per year. I about died when I found out the table they wanted cost about $250,000. I want to please them and would like their business, but, really!
Answer: You need to be realistic about what you can and cannot offer in a surgery center.
Follow-up note: After talking to this reader on the phone, we both found out that the group had the local hospital purchase the same table for them. The urology group wanted to duplicate the equipment and have ability to go between the hospital and the ASC to perform these cases. As you can guess, the center declined.
Question: Why does the medical director need to be a member of anesthesia? We have constant bickering and squabbling from the anesthesia department wanting to get out of call in order to cover our department exclusively.
Answer: Your medical director absolutely does not have to be a member of an anesthesia group. It can be any physician that is willing to serve. Our own experience has the medical director coming from anesthesia about 70% of the time and the rest from other members of the surgical staff.
Question: One of our surgeons insists on bringing his dog to the surgical department. The dog is downright ugly, with the mange and missing teeth and all, and has no bladder or bowel control whatsoever. If it were cute or cuddly, it might be different, but this animal is a throwback to an earlier era. We have nothing in our bylaws that can handle this situation, and the surgeon does about 150 knees per year, so we hate to go postal on him. We have sat down and explained our position with him, asked the chief of staff to talk to him ("not my problem"), and can do nothing to make him stop. Ideas?
Answer: See if you can make arrangements with a local pet grooming business. In exchange for allowing the business to put a poster in the staff break room about their pet services, their employees might be willing to groom the dog on one of the surgeon's block days and put the animal in their dog school during the surgeon's other block time, free of charge. Follow-up note: The reader followed this advice. Whatever operating room started late those days, a chosen staff member of the tardy room would have to drive the dog back and forth to the groomer on those days. The surgeon was happy, the pet grooming shop increased business, and the dog did not smell — as much. And operating room start times improved dramatically!
(Earnhart & Associates is an ambulatory surgery consulting firm specializing in all aspects of surgery center development and management. Contact Earnhart at 1000 Westbank Drive, Suite 5B, Austin, TX 78746. E-mail: [email protected]. Web: www.earnhart.com.)
Question: Is cross-training of staff really that cost-effective? I have several of my staff threaten to quit if I force them to work in PACU. I am forcing the cross-training based upon an article you wrote in Same-Day-Surgery some time ago.Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.