By Francisco A. Hungria, MS-ILR, Senior Director of People Operations, CardioOne
When you walk into a cardiology practice, you can usually tell how well a team communicates within the first five minutes.
It shows up in the little things. Does the front desk staff greet patients warmly, or are they just going through the motions? Are medical assistants prepared to care for the next patient, or do they feel flustered and overwhelmed? Do providers and support staff work as a team, or do they pass each other in the hallways without a glance?
These subtle signs can spell big problems for independent cardiology practices. Poor communication isn’t just a turnoff for patients. It also erodes staff engagement, thereby keeping your team from reaching its full potential. Yet while many providers and practice managers know communication is a problem, they’re not sure how to fix it.
The good news: Just a few small shifts can transform the way a practice communicates. In this post, we’ll explore why. Read on to identify the common causes of communication breakdowns, learn the benefits of effective communication, and unpack simple steps that can make employee connection a strong driver of practice growth.
Why is good communication in cardiology practices so challenging?
In the same way that diagnosing heart disease requires a comprehensive examination, finding the root cause of staff communication breakdowns means tracing symptoms back to a deeper issue. These three process failures often lie at the heart of miscommunication.
1. Top-down communication models
Providers bear the greatest responsibility for patient care and practice success, which is why most practice leaders put them at the top of the communication pyramid. But that’s a mistake, because communication does not start with clinicians and trickle down to staff. Instead, it begins with the person at the front desk. These “first impression ambassadors” set the tone for the entire practice and therefore should feel empowered to lead communication efforts, as should other key staff such as patient navigators and office managers.
2. Practice goals get lost in translation
Everyone inside an independent cardiology practice wants to feel as if their individual work contributes to a greater good. But if leaders and providers don’t share the practice’s overarching goals with them, they will lack direction. The result: employees will clock in and out without feeling engaged in their work, leading to poor communication with patients and peers.
3. Employees lack clarity on their individual roles
Employees want to understand the rules of engagement beyond their job description. When staff members don’t understand their day-to-day responsibilities, it can create redundant work that frustrates both employees and practice leaders. Even worse, it can lead to resentment over perceived but unintentional favoritism should one staff member receive more opportunities to engage in higher-value work than another.
Effective communication boosts employee engagement
Put simply, good independent cardiology practice communication equals higher employee engagement. When staff feels empowered to talk freely and engage fully in their jobs, the entire practice benefits. A 2023 Gallup survey quantified the impact across all organizations, reporting that having highly engaged employees creates:
- 78% less absenteeism
- 63% fewer safety incidents
- 23% higher profitability
For medical practices, less absenteeism enables staff to accommodate more patient visits without feeling overwhelmed. Fewer safety incidents promote higher quality care. And any revenue uplift can spark practice growth, allowing practices to extend their services to more people in their communities.
Beyond these metrics, highly engaged employees also have a halo effect that reverberates throughout the practice. To understand why, consider a staff member who brings high levels of enthusiasm to work every day. They feel connected with peers and patients. They regularly go above and beyond, arriving early and staying late when necessary. They dedicate themselves to providing wellness and education to the patients they serve. And they lead by example, making others just as energized as they are. All those positive attributes contribute directly to practice growth.
How can practices measure employee engagement?
Measuring employee engagement isn’t just a data point, and that’s why it’s challenging for many practices. Clinicians, by their nature, make decisions based on evidence. But there is no single metric practice leaders can rely on to evaluate staff communication and satisfaction.
Some practices use Net Promoter Score (NPS), and while it has its role, it also has its limitations. NPS is a survey measuring how likely employees are to recommend your practice to others. The drawback is that it captures employees’ feelings only at a specific point in time, which means it falls short of measuring the practice experience holistically.
Instead of seeking the perfect metric to measure staff satisfaction, practice leaders should look at the visible signs of highly engaged employees, which include:
- Staff arriving 5 to 10 minutes early to start their shift
- Few job openings
- Peers referring their friends and colleagues to work for the practice
On the flip side, poor engagement has visible signs, too. Employees arriving late, leaving early, or calling out sick frequently. High employee turnover rates. Difficulty filling vacant positions. When you see any of these symptoms, it’s time to take action.
Steps to improve employee engagement right now
Improving employee engagement inside your medical practice is easier than most people think. Start by implementing a few simple daily communication practices that actually work.
Make time to meet. Practices often operate at full speed, launching multiple initiatives at once. Simultaneously, doctors typically split their time between the office and the hospital. These realities mean staff members usually don’t meet in the same place at the same time. To solve this, practice managers should serve as the “maestros of the orchestra,” carving out 15-minute time blocks to gather all practice staff for regular, timely updates on practice happenings and goals. These huddles can be biweekly or monthly, as long as they’re consistent. Be sure to include input from everyone so communication doesn’t feel like it’s top-down.
Take a genuine interest. This is the simplest but also the most often overlooked communication tip. Encourage doctors and employees to engage with one another not only as co-workers, but as human beings. Say good morning in the hallways. Use break room time to catch up on colleagues’ personal lives and interests. And always pause to ask staff how they’re doing, especially if they are showing signs of stress. These simple practices make a world of difference.
Deliver timely, deliberate feedback. When employees don’t receive feedback, it engenders confusion about goals and job duties. Practices can overcome this barrier by creating continuous feedback loops. Hold formal staff evaluations every six months, and deliver informal feedback in brief one-on-one meetings and in real time. Celebrating a colleague’s accomplishment—such as a nurse jumping in to help a busy medical assistant—in the moment is a huge morale booster for that individual employee and the entire team.
Leverage technology wisely. People management platforms consolidate all aspects of employee engagement, encompassing feedback, goals, and career development. For example, CardioOne offers member practices access to an AI-enabled platform. Practice managers and staff use it to provide performance-based feedback and schedule regular one-on-one check-ins. Using the tool, which also allows managers and colleagues to celebrate staff birthdays and welcome new hires. Both managers and staff can use it to recognize each other for a job well done.
Start small, see big results
Independent cardiology practices don’t need a massive initiative to improve practice communication. They just need consistent, human-to-human connection.
If you’d like to learn more about employee engagement, talk with our team at CardioOne. We equip our practice partners with the tools and support they need to empower staff and promote practice growth, including access to Lattice and a Manager Toolkit filled with free resources, from job description templates to detailed onboarding and retention strategies. Learn more.