Full Transcript Sponsor Messages and Podcast Introduction 0:03 Quick question. Are you paying more in taxes than you should? 0:07 Most high-earning physicians overpay by tens of thousands because their CPA only 0:13 looks backward, not forward. Gelt is different. 0:17 Dedicated CPAs powered by AI that work year-round, [music] 0:22 not just at filing time. Tax strategy and proactive planning for 0:27 practice owners, investors, [music] and physicians with complex financial 0:32 lives. Built specifically for professionals who 0:37 want to keep more of what they earn. Check out joingelt.com. 0:43 That's [music] j o i n g e l t dot com. 0:51 If you work in healthcare, [music] you already know this. 0:54 Conflict is everywhere. In the OR, 0:59 in labor and delivery, in committee meetings, 1:02 between physicians, nurses, administrators, and teams that are all 1:08 trying to do the right thing. But, here's the problem. 1:12 Most of us were never trained to handle conflict well. 1:17 We learned procedures. We learned diagnostics. 1:21 But, we didn't learn how to navigate the moments when two professionals strongly 1:26 disagree. That's why [music] I developed the SPARK 1:30 framework. SPARK stands for stop, 1:35 pause, ask, don't assume, 1:39 reflect and respond, and create a path forward. 1:45 It's a practical system designed specifically [music] for high-stakes 1:49 healthcare environments. Through keynote talks, residency 1:54 workshops, and SPARK masterclasses, I [music] teach physicians, nurses, and 2:00 healthcare teams how to turn destructive conflict into productive conversations 2:05 [music] that strengthen teams and improve care. 2:09 If your hospital, residency program, or medical conference is looking for a 2:14 speaker on conflict, communication, and leadership in healthcare, 2:18 >> [music] >> I'd love to work with you. 2:20 You can learn more in the show notes. Because in medicine, 2:25 conflict is inevitable. But handled well, 2:30 it can make teams stronger. 2:45 In every operating [music] room, in every ward, in every clinic, and 2:49 every team meeting, a silent battle brews. 2:53 Conflict, negotiation, identity. 2:57 Welcome to the Scalpel and Sword podcast, where I, Dr. Lee Shorma,
Introducing Virtual Teammate and Remote Staffing 3:02 physician [music] and conflict analyst, explore the hidden negotiations behind 3:06 modern medicine. Let's trade burnout for boundaries [music] and learn the art of 3:10 healing with precision and power. 3:15 Hello, my peaceful warriors, and welcome to the Scalpel and Sword podcast. I am 3:21 your host, Dr. Lee Shorma, physician and conflict analyst. And I'm going to ask 3:26 you a question today. So, there are things that you did at work. 3:31 There are tasks that you had on your plate 3:35 that you know you had to do, but it may not have been the greatest 3:38 use of your time. >> Yeah. 3:40 >> And in fact, we live in a world where the availability 3:45 of resources, many of which are virtual, 3:49 are huge, and yet it's something that we don't always think about. 3:54 And beyond that, the use of those things can sometimes bring with it its own very 3:59 special set of circumstances that can lead to conflict. 4:03 I am so excited to have somebody on the podcast today that I think is really 4:07 going to shine a light on this. I'm so happy to welcome Chris McShanag. He is 4:11 the founder and CEO of Virtual Teammate, which is a premier global remote 4:17 staffing firm based out of Glendale, Arizona. 4:20 He is an experienced operations executive and entrepreneur who 4:24 specializes in helping healthcare practices, businesses, and nonprofits 4:28 scale efficiently by integrating trained high-performing virtual professionals 4:33 into their core teams. And we were talking before we started 4:37 about he really does have an interest and a heart for healthcare 4:40 professionals. Chris, welcome to the podcast. 4:44 >> Well, I thank you very much, Leah. It's a pleasure to meet you. And obviously, 4:47 we caught up a little bit and I amazing how small of a world we have, you know, 4:51 connections in New Mexico and just the amazing things that you and your 4:55 daughter is doing. And I'm just so excited for this opportunity to talk 4:58 today and really educate your listeners on how best to leverage remote team 5:02 members in the healthcare space and how it could really be a game-changer for 5:05 the growth and success of your practice. >> I am so excited to get into this. I feel 5:10 like this is one of those topics that we kind of blame on the pandemic a little 5:15 bit. That the rise of doing virtual teams and virtual teamwork was something 5:21 that was somewhat available before 2020, but after the pandemic really just blew 5:27 up. What kind of things have you seen that 5:30 have really driven this push to using virtual workers and having people work 5:35 remotely? >> I think for me, what's really driven it 5:38 is the opportunity, right? And the access to a global market. When you 5:42 think about administrative tasks in the healthcare space, 5:46 you know, there's research that's out there that shows on average there's 5:50 about $8,400 of monthly revenue lost per practice for kind of no shows, denials, 5:54 and unscheduled treatment and quite often when I talk to my clients and the 5:59 patients and also practices, their conversation is, "I love you doctor, but 6:02 I can never get hold of you." So, you think about $8,400 that's constantly 6:06 just walking out of your door. On top of that, if you want to fix that problem, 6:10 we're seeing anywhere from a 90-day hiring cycle here in the US if you can 6:13 find the right people with the right cost is really becoming a huge issue, 6:18 right? And then obviously practices are struggling to find the right folks and 6:21 retain the right folks. And so, for me, I'm really passionate about how do I 6:25 come alongside physicians, doctors, dentists and allow them to do what they 6:30 do best and allow our teams to do what they do best is really take care of the 6:34 administrative back office functions so they can focus more time on education 6:38 care and really nurturing that relationship and nurturing themselves, 6:41 right? Because so many of our physicians today are experiencing burnout of 6:44 statistics well under the 50% and how can we be just a small part of that? I 6:49 recently became a grandparent well, a couple of years ago now. I have three. 6:53 One is three and one is one. One is about seven months. 6:56 And for me, this is the one thing that I can do to really, I think, give back and 6:59 leave a legacy so the health care system continues to sustain and work 7:03 effectively you know, for many years to come. 7:06 >> That is awesome and I love it that as you're looking at your grandchildren and 7:12 that really resonated with me. I want to leave health care better than how I 7:15 found it. >> Right. 7:16 >> And the only way to do that is to work within the system and a lot of times 7:21 that does include the work that you're doing, actually encouraging physicians 7:25 to think about these things in a very creative way. 7:28 I think one of the things you were talking about, which I really want to 7:31 get into is that you really want to come alongside the doctors, that you're 7:34 actually trying to help them build this team in this virtual space. 7:39 You know, doctors sometimes are really challenging audiences, especially those 7:42 of us that I think we've been in practice more than 15 or 20 years. 7:46 The concept of working in teams is hard for us because we feel like everything 7:49 falls on us, that we have to do everything, that if we don't do it, it 7:52 won't get done. So, as you're talking to positions who 7:57 are really interested or needing this kind of virtual help, what kind of 8:02 concerns do you really have to address with them to get them to buy into this 8:05 process of virtual teamwork? >> I think for me, it's really about what 8:10 are the outcomes they're looking to drive. And so, I quite talk to them 8:13 about, "Okay, what is the biggest thing that's holding back your practice today? 8:16 Is it staffing? Is it claims? Is it no-shows?" And then really talking to 8:21 them, "Okay, and the folks that you have focused in fixing that, 8:24 what is their role within your practice?" And quite often they'll say, 8:27 "Oh, it's my mom's office manager. It's my MA." And I'm like, "Okay, let's think 8:30 about all the extra photos, $100 resource, highly paid, 8:34 really educated folks on patient care are spending time on those sort of 8:37 things that you can leverage remote team members 8:40 to be able to do." And about 80 to 85% of my team are nurses, and so they're 8:44 all very heavily healthcare trained. But then, they're at a fraction of the 8:49 cost, but really add additional value because they're able to really be 8:54 dedicated to getting those things solved versus one of many tasks that say an 8:58 office manager or MA has within your office.
Why Healthcare Practices Need Virtual Support 9:01 And so, that's really what I really talk to doctors about, "What is it that's 9:04 holding you back? And then how could a remote team member support you because 9:08 as we were talking about believe before we came on the podcast, our teams have 9:11 shifted. If you go back 10 years, about 95% of our workforce was in the office. 9:16 So, you could see folks, you could engage them. 9:19 Well, now if I fast forward 10 years, and you are correct, COVID had a bump, 9:23 we're getting close to 60% of our workforce is today not in the office. 9:27 And so, you have teams that are here physically in office, which is usually 9:30 necessary, patient interaction, touching patients, doing those things. Then near, 9:34 maybe work If are within the regional area, within the US 9:38 or different states, but then far, right? And far becomes very easy for you 9:41 to really scale up and scale down. That's where Virtual Teammate really 9:45 comes alongside to form a team as part of that three-legged stool. And 9:49 so, that's where I really talked to our doctors about thinking about what are 9:53 the tasks that are holding back your practice and how can we come alongside 9:56 and partner with you to solve those problems while allowing you and your 10:00 team within the office to spend more time on patient care. 10:03 >> That is awesome. Okay, I really want to talk about this because one of the 10:06 things that you talk about in terms of helping these practices, helping 10:09 physicians, is the physicians really kind of have to be intentional, indeed 10:13 the whole practice ecosystem has to be intentional about what is limiting them. 10:20 And those are things that sometimes doctors, we don't sometimes even like to 10:24 think about. I always say the thing that gets doctors in trouble is that we have 10:28 this idea, unfortunately, we want to go in, practice medicine, go home. And that 10:33 concept has gotten us to a 75% and rising employed workforce that has 10:38 lost a lot of autonomy. And as you were talking about burnout before, I think 10:43 that has contributed to burnout as well. So, where I think a lot of physicians 10:46 felt like giving up autonomy would get them less burnout, I think it's been the 10:50 reverse. As >> Correct. 10:52 >> you are showing them this very new way of doing things. And you said something, 10:57 I can't remember if it was on or off mic, but I loved it, 11:00 that you have a $100 employee doing a $10 task. 11:05 >> Correct. >> not a good use of the that person's 11:07 time. If you're talking about patients coming into the practice, you know, one 11:11 of the things that patients want is they want that eye contact. They want to 11:15 build those relationships. >> That's right. 11:18 >> employees that you're paying $100 to a $10 task are spending more time on the 11:23 $10 task, they're not interacting with the patient, 11:27 that does affect your team and your practice. 11:29 >> Exactly. And when I talk with my clients and doctors and physicians, their 11:33 biggest trouble is reimbursement is going down, right? We know that 11:37 reimbursements are reducing, the costs are increasing, and the biggest cost 11:40 they have is staffing. And the hardest thing is finding really 11:43 strong staffing. But it really goes to the outcomes they're looking to drive, 11:47 right? They're trying to increase their claims. They try to make sure they 11:50 reduce the number of no-shows. And so, think about those tasks. They don't 11:54 require a in-person interaction. Quite often it's spending a lot of time, like 11:59 you said, on the phone, handling the portals of insurance companies. And so, 12:03 that's where our team comes alongside. We deal with all of that back office 12:06 function, thereby freeing up people in the practice to, you know, have 12:10 conversations with patients, interact with them, physicians interact with 12:13 them, not having to go home and do charting. 12:15 That's a key focus for us. And that's really what we track within Virtual 12:19 Teammate is how are we increasing the outcomes and improving the results of 12:22 the practice while decreasing the stress of those folks within the practice not 12:27 having to be multi-tasking working overtime or over the weekends to get 12:31 caught up. You are correct. That is one of the biggest areas where we see with 12:34 the burnout is that physicians are constantly trying, you know, patient 12:38 care from 9:00 to 6:00 and then going home with charts. Or people within the 12:42 office trying to juggle talking with the patient as well as on the phone with 12:45 insurance verification and those sort of things. Just imagine if you didn't have 12:49 to deal with those and you could have a resource that, you know, when we keep 12:53 statistics and we do productivity and we do KPI reporting for clients, that our 12:57 47% more productive than having someone in the office at a relative cost 13:02 reduction of around 70%. And that becomes a real game-changer for your 13:05 patients and also for your practice. >> That is huge. And I love how you are 13:10 tracking metrics, that you actually have numbers that you can show physicians and 13:15 practices that this really does work. This really is optimizing not only the 13:21 way the practice functions, but also care as well. 13:24 So, as you are bringing your virtual teammates alongside 13:29 the employees who are already in the practice, 13:32 what are some things that you do as you are helping these practices acclimate to 13:36 this remote team model? Because I feel like this would be one of 13:39 those things, you know, if you already have conflict in a practice with 13:43 multiple employees because conflict is normal. It happens in healthy 13:47 organizations. It's one of the biggest things I talk about. Is if we have 13:50 conflict in an organization, it doesn't mean your organization is bad. Not at 13:53 all. Conflict is normal. So, as you are introducing this new remote element into 14:00 this practice community, are there things that you do to ease this 14:07 new team build that you've got going on? >> Well, Mike, that's a great question, 14:12 Leigh. So, we don't just do a place and drop and place, right? So, what I do is 14:15 in part of the initial practice order is have a conversation and understand what 14:19 is the biggest pain point. And then what we do is I say, "Based on those pain 14:22 points, let's say it's no shows. Okay, let's talk about what are the outcomes 14:26 you want to drive? Do you want to drive a 10% reduction in outcomes? Okay, let 14:29 me get folks engaged that can help you with that." And then what we do is we 14:34 dedicate a team member. So, my virtual teammates don't work with multiple 14:37 clients. They're 100% dedicated with that client. And what we've been able to 14:41 achieve is that forms a team, right? Because the definition of a team is a 14:44 group of individuals working towards a common goal. And so, your team is as I 14:48 said, it's kind of more from here, near, here, and far. And then what I 14:52 also do on top of that is I provide a client success manager. 14:55 And then we do develop a customized concierge match and onboarding process. 14:59 So, we onboard the virtual teammate into the organization.
Onboarding, Matching, and Managing Remote Teams 15:02 We also do a match leveraging cultural index, which really identifies that 15:06 behavioral hardwired traits between the practice 15:09 and the virtual teammate. So, you really get a good sense of how do I eliminate 15:13 that conflict to the best of our ability. 15:15 And then we do monthly reporting. And our virtual teammates provide an end of 15:19 day report and then an end of week report. And then we provide a 15:22 kind KPI metrics. Thereby you can be rest assured they're focused on the 15:26 outcomes being delivered and the work they're doing in the productivity 15:29 they're achieving. And then our client success manager provides high touch for 15:33 the first 30 days to make sure they're on board and going well. And then 15:36 becomes your point of contact through the life of our engagement together. And 15:40 so you always know you have a dedicated person within Virtual Team Leads that 15:43 you can reach out to. They provide ongoing coaching and 15:46 support to our virtual teammates as well as ongoing coaching and support to our 15:49 clients. And our practice owners and doctors because you are correctly you 15:54 know, part of the big struggle is how do I best leverage these teammates? And we 15:58 have the same struggles if they're in the office as if they're remote. It's a 16:01 little more hind because you're leveraging you work your remotely, but 16:04 it provides that opportunity to really get that strong engagement and ensure 16:08 that we're really always tied it on outcomes because for me 16:12 you know, the key focus of any teammate is to continually responsibly add value 16:16 to the business and add value to your clinic. And that's what we really work 16:20 like and coach and train our teammates on doing. 16:22 >> I love that. There's so many things I love about what you just said that I 16:25 want to dig into. The first one is that there's intentionality behind how you 16:31 match these teams. That you are literally looking at, okay, this is the 16:36 position practice, this is this practice culture environment, these people I'm 16:39 talking to. This person I think would be a good 16:42 match. And so you're already really putting time into building the team. 16:48 It's not just okay, here's this person. And I love that. But something else that 16:53 you do that I think is really important. And I love that you use it in virtually 16:57 because I actually think it's something that should exist even if you don't have 17:01 virtual employees or virtual assistants is the idea that there is a point 17:05 person, there's this concierge that is the place where the conflicts go. 17:11 So early on, there's a lot of contact in the first 30 days and as things are 17:15 moving smoothly, it becomes more of a I'm here if you need me kind of thing. 17:20 >> Correct. >> And the fact that you have that, because 17:23 I think one of the things, if you look at health care professionals in general, 17:27 and you look at the different ways that we approach conflict, over a third of us 17:30 and closer to more half are conflict avoiders. We don't like it. We run from 17:36 it. We will avoid it. We would rather go hide in an office than deal with 17:40 conflict. So, rather than if we have a virtual teammate and there's a question 17:47 and you say, "Okay, well, here's your virtual teammate. Do conflict resolution 17:50 with your virtual teammate." I mean, if we're having a hard time doing this with 17:53 our in-person colleagues, how are we going to do this with a virtual? And I 17:57 think the fact that you have a concierge there that can be that third person, can 18:02 be actually sort of the boundary spanner between what's going on in the office 18:07 and what's going on virtually. And so, all of a sudden now you've got this 18:11 person here whose job it is to actually bolster that communication. And what you 18:16 kind of hope eventually is that the teammate becomes such a part of the 18:20 culture that those conflicts can be resolved without going to the concierge. 18:25 >> Exactly. And then that's the intentionality of the first 30 days 18:28 really driving high touch and high support, cuz it goes both ways. And we 18:31 have a client playbook that we work through with our clients on how to 18:35 onboard your virtual teammate, what's the best work to focus, the best way to 18:39 communicate, how to assign tasks. And we have a client portal that our virtual 18:44 teammates leverage, you know, for their tasks, as well as our clients can see 18:48 what's being worked on. They can assign tasks to virtual teammates. So, really 18:51 driving that level of collaboration, leveraging technology to drive 18:56 frictionless course and automation. And that's a key focus for us. Cuz in 18:59 building the organization, I wanted to focus on not only enhancing the client 19:03 experience of the remote teammates, cuz that's a huge part of it. And you know, 19:06 I think there are some stories out there that aren't as strong. But also, how How 19:10 you enhance the virtual teammate experience and provide them an 19:13 opportunity to earn a living wage and that's really where my heart is at and 19:16 then leveraging technology for fractional process automation and 19:19 they're really the three pillars that we've built the organization on and 19:22 their status well. >> And I love that you talk about the idea 19:25 of leveraging technology to decrease friction and provide growth. 19:31 And I think that's something that a lot of times we don't think about in health 19:34 care. Sometimes we tend to think of technology or virtual presence 19:40 as something that doesn't have the closeness, something that doesn't have 19:44 that level of trust. >> Correct. 19:47 >> But we use it all the time. How we do Zoom meetings all the time. You 19:51 mentioned before we went on mic that you have grandkids. So 19:54 >> Yes. >> how often do you do virtual calls with 19:56 your grandkids? Because you love to see them and you 19:59 love for them to see you and hear from you. So to say that we can have virtual 20:04 contact and have it not be something that establishes trust and closeness in 20:07 the relationship. We do it all the time. We just may not think about doing it in 20:11 [clears throat] the health care situation. 20:12 >> Exactly. Yeah, I I'm blessed and and my grandkids well up until recently they're 20:16 all in state so they get to see them a lot but you're right. Every day I get to 20:20 interact and you know, you can probably tell I'm originally from Australia. I 20:24 came over here many years ago single and I said married, four kids, three 20:28 grandkids and so for me we didn't have the technology in the first country but 20:32 now it's so powerful even my grandkids will contact my parents, their great 20:36 grandparents over FaceTime and it's such a unique way to drive connection. And 20:40 now with the technology we can all be just as productive or even more 20:44 productive working remotely and that's why yeah, teams are so focused and they 20:48 work out of US business hours so they're very much interacting with the patients 20:52 and with the clients real time. That's the other area that we really support a 20:56 lot of our clients on is patient communication. 20:59 I leverage teams across the globe but a really large portion of teams in the 21:02 Philippines which English is the first language taught in school. 21:06 And so we're very intentional with that team to make sure they have strong 21:09 communication skills. And that's important. I mean, when patients reach 21:11 out to doctor's offices, it's normally generally not one of the highlights of 21:15 their day. And so making sure they feel comfortable and the VO narrative people 21:19 in this office have such empathy and such customer service that it's just a 21:22 blessing to work with them. >> That's awesome. This is something I 21:27 think is really important. Talking about how in terms of building the patient 21:31 relationship that technology has a role in that. Again, for those of us who did 21:36 telehealth starting the pandemic and have continued to do telehealth now, 21:40 because it is a blessing for patients to be able to interact with them in that 21:43 way. It is definitely more convenient for them if we're doing things that 21:46 don't require physical touch with an exam that being able to have them do a 21:52 follow-up visit without physically coming to the office, 21:55 that's huge for them. But it takes some practice to be able to 21:59 get that communication where the patients feel
Technology, AI, and Human Accountability 22:03 still that they're being heard, that they're still being connected with. 22:08 So, there are definitely things where you're sort of looking at a population 22:11 cuz you talk about this that in the Philippines you feel like that there is 22:14 that compassion they're able to do that. >> There is that connection. And obviously 22:18 in the day of technology we have today and AI really taking over a lot of 22:22 things, some people would say, "Well, well, I need people." Well, my point of 22:26 view is on what we leverage a virtual team made is AI for productivity, which 22:29 is hugely important, but you need human accountability. 22:33 Human oversight and human escalation. I mean, some of my clients chose to go all 22:37 in on AI and scribing. Well, that's created some problems, right? I mean, 22:41 it's only as good as the quality of the data. And then you as a physician have 22:45 to go and review that. I mean, because if it messes up on any of the 22:48 prescriptions, any of those things, you know, we're talking life-threatening. 22:50 And so for me, I'm really passionate about how can I embrace technology, 22:54 embrace AI from a productivity standpoint as a replacement of people, 22:58 but it's a productivity tool, but it really requires human escalation 23:02 and human accountability. And that's where we're able to really come 23:06 alongside physician practices as they're looking to embrace technology, whether 23:09 it be AI or EMR or whatever the solution may be, where we can really support them 23:14 in that process on the telehealth or even as you're embracing integrating 23:18 within their practice. >> I love you about human escalation as 23:21 they are kind of embracing technology. But as you are encouraging us as humans 23:26 to rise and actually use technology appropriately. Do you also find that 23:31 there's different world views and pushback on how that technology 23:35 functions within health care? >> Obviously, health care is one of the 23:38 probably later adopters of technology. And like you said, we kind of got pushed 23:42 a little bit with COVID to adopt more of it. And obviously through meaningful 23:46 use, my background and career and kind of how I got into this space is I had a 23:50 consulting company and did a lot of large implementations, whether it be 23:53 ICD-10 or meaningful use, EHR implementations. And whenever I would 23:57 talk to physicians, their biggest concern was, Chris, I love this 24:00 technology, but it takes me away from the patient. I'm spending more time in 24:04 front of the computer than I am in front of my patient. So, how can we solve 24:07 that? And the other is, you know, I attend this and so much time on the 24:10 phone or my team spends time on the phone or on the internet doing pre-cert 24:15 verifications, scheduling. So, that's really what got me passionate about. If 24:19 I can really help solve that problem of allowing or freeing up people in the 24:23 office and doctors to spend time on what they do. And then our team kind of 24:27 handles the back office function. It's a win-win for both sides. Because it 24:30 provides an opportunity for our folks in the Philippines and around the globe to 24:34 earn a living wage while supporting amazing clients here in the US, Canada, 24:38 and around the globe. >> I love that. I love how you are creating 24:43 this really cool global family practicing health care. Because I think 24:48 one of the great things about doing what you're doing is anytime you have teams 24:53 that have different backgrounds, that have different life experiences, 24:57 different learning experiences, that feeds on itself. It creates an 25:02 openness and an acceptance. It creates a different way of listening to people. 25:07 And I always feel like the more open we are in terms of understanding and being 25:12 willing to understand different points of view, 25:15 that in and of itself is one of the greatest reducers of conflict there 25:18 could be. If I am willing to open myself up, if I 25:23 have a virtual teammate, and I hear my virtual teammate talking about a problem 25:27 that we need to work on, and her approach is completely different than 25:31 something I would have thought of, I'm going to learn so much from that 25:34 person. But it also that humility of having this person on my team and being 25:39 willing to learn from them is going to make me a better team member as well. 25:44 >> That's so well put, Leigh, because there are different roles and have different 25:48 needs, right? And I think putting together a team, like any sporting 25:52 event, right? If you're in football, not everybody can be the quarterbacks, not 25:56 everybody can be a lineman. But you need linemen and you need quarterbacks, 26:01 right? Just like you need physicians and you need to support those physicians and 26:05 the necessary team members. And getting open to the concept that not all of them 26:09 have to be in the office and not all of them have to be centrally 26:12 located, I think is a real game-changer, particularly for the small to 26:15 medium-sized practices, where I really like to focus on We do some work with 26:19 hospitals, but I'm really passionate about how can I help those independent 26:22 practices stay independent. How do I allow them to continue to do 26:26 what they do best and not have to be working all hours of the night to kind 26:31 of keep up, given that reimbursement is driving down. And so for me, that's 26:35 really where I'm passionate about kind of making that connection and really 26:39 helping out physicians do what they do best. And then really allowing them the 26:44 opportunity for our teammates around the globe to be able to do what they do best 26:47 and not have to travel across borders or even overseas and be away from their 26:52 family. So, for me it's a definitely a win-win opportunity. 26:55 >> And I love your focus. I think I'm with you on this. I'm an independent 26:59 physician. I've been independent now for 29 years. I have such passion about 27:05 keeping doctors independent. Big part of why I love doing this podcast. Because I 27:10 do think this is one of these things in terms of small and medium practices, 27:14 smaller practices sometimes have communities and have personalities and 27:20 have conflict and those things in a smaller environment can be really 27:24 damaging. And a big part of that to me is not only learning how to communicate 27:30 and learning how to function, but you put it really well. It's understanding 27:35 that our roles are really important. And whatever my role is, my role is 27:42 really not less or more important than anybody else who's around me. And that 27:45 includes my virtual teammate. That role is just as important. And as you have 27:51 physicians that are using virtual teammates or any kind of remote workers, 27:57 I think one of the things that they start to understand, like you said
Reducing Conflict Through Clear Outcomes 28:00 earlier in the podcast, how valuable that is for their daily functioning. 28:05 They get to see it in real time. >> We focus into talk about the roles that 28:10 we perform, Ryan. So, we really laser focus in five key roles. So, try 28:14 insurance verification eligibility, right? That's a big area for physicians 28:18 and practices that are insurance based. We focus very heavily on the billing, 28:22 claims, denial side of things because obviously we want to make sure you're 28:25 getting reimbursed for the work that's being done. 28:28 And the patient scheduling, making sure and we're following up and ensuring that 28:32 your schedule's full and everybody, you know, reducing the no-shows. And the 28:36 medical scribing, obviously updating the medical record. So, it allows for our 28:40 physicians to spend time with the patient and then our team's able to 28:43 document those records. They'll go and do a review afterwards, the physician 28:47 signs off and we move forward. And then for the talk about you got a medical 28:50 receptionist. That's a key one for us, and we've seen huge changes for our 28:54 clients is having our folks really handle the phone calls, answering calls, 28:58 triaging certain things. Like I said, you know, well over 80% of our teammates 29:03 are nurses, and so they're able to answer some of the basic health care 29:06 questions, be able to put the patient at ease, but then also ensure that they're 29:10 getting the support that they need. >> I think especially in this day and age 29:14 where you're seeing at least in my part of the world in Alabama, you are seeing 29:17 more practices that are trying to do more automated phone bank kind of 29:21 answering your front desk. And I don't think there's anything that will 29:25 frustrate a patient faster than having to go through 20 clicks just to get to a 29:31 human when they are scared, when they are in 29:34 need, and I'm going to make you go through a phone bank to get to a human 29:38 being. And that's really frustrating, and I think that's what's beautiful 29:42 about having virtual and remote workers that are human beings that are answering 29:46 the phone. And like you said, that have a level of experience and empathy. They 29:49 work in health care, but they're also actually empathetic in what they're 29:53 doing, and that makes a big difference in how the patient perceives that. 29:57 You talked about earlier making this process with virtual teammate, with 30:02 bringing in the virtual teammates as frictionless as possible. 30:05 But I would suspect there is sometimes still friction. 30:10 >> Yeah. >> What kind of things do you see happening 30:13 as you start to bring in, especially for practice that may be saying negative to 30:16 having remote workers? >> I mean, I think it's where we see some 30:20 kind of disconnect is managing expectations. And so what we do is very 30:24 much up front say, "What are the top three outcomes you want to drive, 30:27 right?" And so we get very laser focused on that. And therefore, what are the 30:30 capabilities, and we work on this that aligns to those outcomes. And then what 30:34 are the activities that are going to be performed? Where I find the most 30:38 friction is if we're not very clear up front on what the expectations are, then 30:41 there can be a frustration. Like any new employee you bring into your office or 30:46 your practice, there is some time where you're going to need, you know, 30:50 onboarding it and coming up to speed. And that's not different whether in the 30:53 office or remote. So, that's why we're very intentional to do high touch in the 30:56 first 30 days, particularly in the first week. We need to make sure that we get 31:00 that connection going, everything's connected. That's probably one of the 31:03 big areas and the other security. Because ultimately, we're talking about 31:07 very sensitive PHI. And so, we have very strict security protocols in place. None 31:12 of our teammates are able to download any information. They remote access 31:17 securely into the clinic's systems and that's really how they work. And so, we 31:22 are very focused on protecting patient data. And that's probably the other one 31:26 that we sometimes have a little bit of pushback on. 31:29 But I would encourage folks, you know, give it a try. And I will happy to share 31:33 to your list is some of the testimonials that team because it's really been a 31:36 game-changer for a lot of our practices. And on average, 10 to 15% of our clients 31:41 that adding a virtual teammate every month because they're like, "Oh, great. 31:44 And now my insurance verifications under control. How can I get my payment 31:48 posting under control? How can I get my denials under control? How can I make 31:52 sure that the scheduling is done or the receptionist is done?" And as you talked 31:56 about the phone banks, you know, AI has a place there. But that's where we 32:00 really step in and have that escalation. Right? If the phone bank's not going 32:03 well, that's where we have folks that can really jump and assist. 32:07 >> I love how you talk about the process of actually defining what expectations are. 32:13 Because I think very often one of the biggest drivers of conflict in any team 32:18 is assumption. I'm making an assumption about what I 32:22 think you need. I'm not asking you. So, tell me what's three objectives you want 32:26 me to meet for you today. Because then we're both very clear on 32:29 what you're wanting me to do. As opposed to me assuming what you want and then 32:34 already now I've I an assumption. Unfortunately, we've got a breeding 32:37 ground for conflict right there. So, I love that you're initially starting with 32:41 let's not have assumptions. Let's have concrete goals. What are we 32:45 trying to accomplish? And then once you have the concrete 32:48 goals, you said something really powerful and I want to drill down on 32:51 this, that you actually work within your company to provide alignment 32:57 for those goals. >> You're 100% correct, Layla. And so, once 33:01 we define those three target and outcomes and those KPIs, then we track 33:05 against them, right? And so we say to our client, "Okay, if we agree we want 33:08 to reduce no-shows by 10%." We're reporting on that on a regular basis on 33:12 how we're improving that. Or I want to improve the claim submission for 33:17 accuracy of claims. We're tracking that because, you know, in the virtual 33:20 assistant industry, it can quite often feel like you're getting a person and 33:25 we'd hope it worked out well. A virtual teammate under that, what are the 33:28 outcomes you want to drive and how can we partner to get those together, not 33:32 separately? >> And this is huge. This is also, I think, 33:35 part of the reason why, you know, as we're talking about virtual teammate and 33:39 we're thinking about conflict in remote work, 33:41 one of the things that happens with conflict, and this is virtual or 33:45 in-person, is the idea that the person is the source of the conflict. 33:50 And all of a sudden, if you turn that on its head and you say, "No, no, no, no, 33:54 no, we're looking at specific outcomes." The person is just part of the process. 33:59 What's really driving this are these very specific outcomes. And when you 34:03 shift that attention from the individual to the outcome or the process, 34:09 I think it brings people up, but I think it also really changes how conflict 34:14 occurs. >> Exactly, because it's not about the 34:17 person, it's about the work and it's about the results, right? And so you 34:21 target the outcomes to the results, not the person, because at any point in time 34:25 the person may change, right? Whether they be in your office or remotely, 34:30 but the outcome still consistently be the same. And so, making sure everybody 34:34 is laser-focused on the outcomes or what we refer to as the most important 34:38 number, right? What's the one number above all else that you're winning in 34:41 the game of business? And then if everybody's focused on that and doing 34:44 the best work to achieve that, then that really drives alignment and ultimately, 34:49 you know, reduces conflict because then everybody's like, "Okay, this is the 34:52 best work I'm doing to achieve this. Not Sally's not doing this or Harry's not 34:57 doing that." It's, "Okay, what are we doing together to achieve that?"
Final Takeaways and Closing Remarks 35:01 >> I love that. That is fantastic. And it's so brilliant that you are doing that. 35:08 And I wonder because of your focus, because you are so process and 35:12 outcomes-focused with Virtual Teammate, that I think 35:17 there is probably less conflict in what you do. And that directly relates to 35:23 your focus and your approach. >> I would like to think that, Leanne. 35:26 That's always been my heart. You know, in these you do employing people or 35:30 you're implementing these processes, it's about how do I reduce the stress, 35:35 to reduce the complexity, and obviously drive the results at the 35:39 end. And at the end of the day, you know, we're all laser-focused on how can 35:42 we continually improve. And this is just one of those things I think your process 35:46 within the office, the technology you have, and then the people that are 35:49 aligned to those. >> 100%. 35:52 So, let's say you had a position that was interested in having a remote worker 35:58 or a Virtual Teammate, what one question would you encourage 36:03 that physician to ask as they're entering into that process? 36:07 >> So, I would ask them to say, "So, tell me what is the one task that keeps you 36:11 awake at night or your practice at night? Like, what's the one outcome that 36:14 you're really struggling with that keeps you awake at night? And let's talk about 36:18 that and determine what is preventing that. Is that a staff, things, and 36:22 technology, or process? And then really dig in." And that's what I always ask my 36:26 patients, like, "What is the one thing that's holding you back today? Or 36:29 keeping you awake. What are the outcomes you're looking to drive that you're not 36:32 able to achieve because of that? >> I love it. That is awesome. Chris, this 36:38 has been a phenomenal conversation. I really appreciate you being here. 36:43 >> You're welcome, Leia. It's been a pleasure for me. I'm really on a mission 36:45 to how can I help and have an impact in the healthcare space? And I appreciate 36:49 what you're doing through your obviously patient interaction and also this 36:52 podcast. It's such a blessing to have these platforms that we can share 36:56 information and really be able to support ourselves and support doctors 37:00 around the world and around the US. >> So, if the listeners have questions 37:05 about Virtual Teammate or they have questions for you, what's the best way 37:08 for them to reach out? >> And the best way through LinkedIn, you 37:12 can get in touch with me, Chris Vick Shanae within LinkedIn. Or go to Virtual 37:15 Teammate. I'd love to see you to schedule some time and schedule practice 37:18 audit. I always love meeting new physicians, new practices, and see what 37:22 I could do to just make a small and improvement and adjustment in practice 37:26 that can have a real-world impact both for themselves within the practice but 37:31 also personally. If you think about being able to buy back your time, it's 37:34 the one resource that we all have that's finite. 37:37 And so, how much of that time do you really want to focus on things that 37:41 don't add value and that aren't in the highest and best value use of your time? 37:45 >> Amen. I absolutely love that. And for all of our peaceful warriors, I hope 37:52 today that you've been able to really enjoy and really learn so much about the 37:57 possibility of having remote workers, of using a virtual teammate. And as Chris 38:03 was saying, your number one resource is your time. But also this idea that being 38:09 focused on the process and on the outcome, not only builds strong teams, 38:14 but it also definitely can reduce our conflict. So, Chris, thank you again. 38:20 >> Thank you, Leia. I always love to ask folks when I'm on their podcast is 38:24 what's the one takeaway or nugget you'll take away from our 38:27 conversation today, Leigh? >> So, for me today, my biggest thing that 38:32 I have learned is the idea of having a remote worker 38:38 really in so many ways actually produces an understanding of how we 38:44 build teams, understanding of what reduces conflict. 38:48 Because so many of the processes that you talk about in onboarding a virtual 38:52 teammate to me are preventing conflict on the front end. 38:57 And that's why I loved when you were talking about actually setting these 39:01 goals. What's the one number that we're chasing as we are incorporating this new 39:05 teammate? Why don't we ask those questions when we actually have 39:10 our regular colleagues? Those are things we don't do. And so, I think this is one 39:15 of these situations where I have learned so much from how you bring in your 39:20 remote teammate that really do resonate with our everyday people that are 39:25 standing next to us. >> I would agree, yeah. It's implemented 39:29 whether you're like I said here and there and follow. And we have workbooks 39:33 and we have material and happy to share for your listening on how best to really 39:37 achieve that because at the end of the day, you know, the alignment or 39:40 reduction of conflict is about managing expectations, Charles. 39:44 Like anything, whether it be in a marriage, whether it be in a business, 39:46 it's about aligning expectations and then you're very clear on the 39:50 guardrails. And so, it's the guidelines, I should say, to go to drive success. I 39:54 mean, I know for myself personally, even talking with my wife, learning that 39:57 there are listening conversations and there are fixing conversations and not 40:00 getting the two mixed up. And so, it's the same thing in business, Charles. How 40:03 do we make sure we communicate better, whether we're physically in the office 40:06 or 6,000 miles away? >> Because in both situations, we can learn 40:12 to have those guardrails and we can learn to have those conversations and we 40:16 can learn to trust the process just like you're doing with your virtual team 40:19 reads. >> Well, I appreciate Lee. It's been a 40:22 pleasure talking with you today. Thank you. 40:24 >> Same, Chris. Thank you so much. And for all of our peaceful warriors who have 40:28 joined us today on the Scalpel and Sword podcast, if this resonated with you, 40:33 please share it with a colleague or a friend. And until next time, be irked. 40:38 Peace. 40:41 >> [music] >> Every episode is an invitation 40:44 to speak, to negotiate, to choose. I'm Dr. [music] Lee Sharma. 40:49 Join the dialogue by subscribing to Scalpel and Sword. 40:53 >> [music] >> Until next time, peaceful warriors. May 40:56 your choices be sharp and your voice [music] be even sharper. 41:04 This podcast is a reflection of lived experience and research in conflict 41:08 resolution. [music] The Scalpel and Sword is not intended as 41:12 medical or legal guidance. For personal matters, [music] please 41:15 consult a qualified professional.
Comments