Thanks to everyone for participating in our recent “all company” meeting.  Having everyone at one place at one time was something we don’t get to do very often.  While we had some fun and a great lunch, there were some good business reasons for getting together. For me, the biggest reason for getting together is simple: communication.

Our business is built upon communication. Think about it – we control the flow of confidential patient records from one place to another; making sure appropriate records are provided according to what’s requested as long as it’s accompanied by a properly executed authorization.  We convey regulatory and industry information to our sites, while sharing our knowledge of HIPAA and privacy facts with their personnel.  Via our reimbursements and our rents, we communicate the value of our services and in turn make their work easier.  Communication is the key to everything we do, and we do it well.

Keeping our customers happy starts with every one of us effectively communicating.  Whether it’s telling each other how many requests we’re processing, what kind of jobs the sites are asking us to do, how many hours we’re working to complete the work, or about the challenge of a unique request – when we share our experiences we can make better decisions about how to best serve our customers.  It’s a way to identify what additional services may be needed and how CMIS can improve workflow for the customer.

We all try to keep our customers happy – it’s our basic reason for success. Think about a time when we have fallen short of a customer’s expectation.  Dig deep enough and I think you’ll find that somewhere along the way faulty communication was to blame.

Where am I going with all of this?

I am going to a pretty simple observation and a pretty basic idea. Our work lives are better when we communicate with each other, and our sites really see our worth when we do so.  In the coming year, I believe that we have can have better accuracy, productivity, staffing, invoicing and sales just by improving communication.

Some might consider this counterintuitive because they’d rather just do the work and not ask questions.  People erroneously think that if they ask questions or ask for help, they are not being self-sufficient. We all want to be seen as a super-human employee – you know, the one who can always come through and never complains. What we may not realize is that the most productive employee knows the value of communicating information that will improve workflow quality, including recognizing when additional help is needed.

Need an example? Here are a few:

You are processing a release but have a question about it (hey, this sounds like a test!). You:

a)      process the release without really knowing if it is right and risk a breach, or

b)      ask a question, learn the answer and are sure of the release.

I am betting on "b" as the best answer. 

Need more? How about this:  you are at the end of your shift when you are given a week’s worth of charts in one hour.  You:

a)      figure you will get it done on your own and just move ahead, risking the site questioning our worth when they see the number of charts, or

b)      tell fellow employees about the need for some help and enlist their assistance so that the work is addressed and the customer is happy.

No mystery here!  Keeping the customer happy is the best bet and I know I would think a great deal of someone who thinks of the customer first!

Think I am immune to this communication rule?  How about this:  I see the number of callbacks and appointments on my schedule that need to be done and I know there is no way I can reach everyone.  I can either:

a)      not call everyone and risk our customers thinking we do not value them

b)      ask for some help and get the message out to everyone that we need reach.

By asking for help I ensure that we keep our promises.

When we come together for meetings like we did in November it gives all of us a chance to see each other and share stories. I know if we keep that same level of communication going forward we can't help but get better at all we do!

Sure sounds like communication is a good deal!