From the President's Desk
Keeping your horizons open
 As
the medical world looks at the issue of how systems errors
result in patient injury, I challenge you to look at how
your systems errors affect your business. It is easy to
get into a rut. When you get used to doing something the
same way over and over, you can get into a deep rut. The
walls of the rut can become so high that you cannot see
over the side. Inefficient systems can go unquestioned until
an incident occurs and someone asks, "But why do we
do it that way?" Systems issues that can affect a law
practice can range from how cases are handled to how
the office is managed. You know you have these issues
if:
-
You find records from one
client’s file in another file.
-
Your bills are not sent
out right after the completion of a phase of work.
-
You cannot determine the
status of a file.
-
Clients complain that their
phone calls are not being returned.
-
Important deadlines are
missed.
-
Associates are leaving
after a short period because of dissatisfaction with
the law firm.
The stimulus to look at and
improve systems issues can come from problems such as these,
or from taking a proactive look at your practice. Our bimonthly
staff meetings at Med League are spent identifying systems
issues and brainstorming on how to more effectively meet
the needs of our clients. How can you address systems issues?
Learn from your peers, educational conferences, books and
websites devoted to management topics. Keep an open inquisitive
mind in search of solutions to problems. Involve your staff
in looking for answers by asking for their perspectives
and ideas on how to resolve a systems issue. Rather than
taking the first solution, explore other solutions until
you find the answer that makes the most sense to you. Try
a new approach and then evaluate if it has solved the problem.
Keep searching until the problem is fixed. Your horizons
will be broader, your staff will be more involved and satisfied,
and your system will run more smoothly.
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