We’ve all hired them…..the staff member who has it all…… personality, great clinical knowledge, a determined work ethic……and absolutely no computer skills. These employees seem so exceptional until we discover the difficulty of training them to use the software. And while we tend to think that only older staff members have these issues, it’s not uncommon to hire someone in their 30’s or even 20’s who has done little more than use email and follow simple directions to perform basic office tasks. Let’s talk about what we can do to minimize and/or avoid the damage to our practice and the new employee’s dignity.
The first and best course is obviously to do some careful, preventive hiring. If an interviewee tells you she’s used and is comfortable with the software you use in the office, sit her in front of it and ask her to perform a few simple tasks. An interviewee who’s comfortable with computers will usually admit if she’s never used the program and express her confidence that she can learn to use it; while a technologically challenged hopeful will often fib to get the job while praying she can “figure it all out” once she does. These folks are often very adept at getting other staff members to cover for them and may well go on for months before you realize how many potentially serious mistakes they’ve made. Even if someone admits they have never used the software, ask them to perform simple tasks such as entering a new patient or making an appointment…..this type of task will usually translate well from program to program. If she sits staring hopelessly at the screen, you might want to rethink her suitability for a digital office.
If, however, you’ve let your due diligence slip a bit and have hired a great staff member who is having difficulty learning the software, there is hope. The first thing you need is patience, the second thing you need is even more patience. Remember the most simple of tasks can be brand new to someone even though they seem second nature to you. Today I taught an exceptional lady how to use “control C” and “control V” to copy and paste. In addition to patience, you also need to get the right teacher working with your less than savvy student. Your best and brightest computer star will probably not be anywhere near as good a trainer as the staff member who had to struggle a bit to catch onto the software.
Create a training protocol, breaking the training into small bites that follow each other in logical sequence. I usually like to break the training into a “trip through the office.” We start with what we enter at the initial call and follow through as we gather and enter insurance information. We then greet the imaginary new patient and go through all the steps for their appointment. Once the appointment, finances and re-appointing are complete, we move on to insurance filing. This needs to be done slowly enough so the trainee can take good notes that will make sense when they go it on their own. A trainer who sprints through bouncing the curser all over is having a great time showing off what she knows, but isn’t accomplishing any useful training.
Keep the sessions short, no more than 2 hours at a time. This will keep the trainee from being overwhelmed and will give her time to practice her new skills before more are added. Dressing in layers raises your temperature and training in layers can raise confidence…..the most necessary component for someone who’s intimidated by the keyboard. Also, do a review of basics at the end of each session and visibly check off completed tasks……another great confidence builder.
Most importantly, don’t leave the new trainee alone until you’re absolutely sure she can function on her own. One of the most basic traits of the computer phobic staff member is a willingness to say she’s “got it all”….. just to get away from the trainer…..the person who she feels is pointing out her inadequacies. Being nervous about computer skills can turn even the most level headed employee into someone who will try to cover her lack of skills and will subsequently make costly errors. Once the basics are mastered (I usually allow a couple of weeks to really get this in place), then we can move on to running reports, sending recalls, etc. It’s very tempting to try and get it all done in a day or two, but even when great notes are taken, something will get missed or learned incorrectly and will come back to haunt the practice down the road. While most offices still prefer to hire someone with strong computer skills (especially with so many office starting out or going paperless), we can still have a “great hire” who isn’t computer savvy with careful and patient training…..and great hires are the backbone of the practice.
