AS ANTONIA FINISHED a full day of clinic at the job she’d had for the last three months, she was surprised at how exhausted she was — having been a technician for nearly five years, she thought she had mastered her job in all ways. After she drove home and opened the front door, her roommate Kate was stunned when she saw her. “Dude, what the heck happened to you?”
ABOUT REAL DEAL
Real Deal scenarios are inspired by true stories but are changed to sharpen the dilemmas involved and should not be confused with real people or places. Responses are peer-sourced opinions and are not a substitute for professional legal advice. Please contact your attorney if you have any questions about an employee or customer situation in your own business.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carissa Dunphy has been working in private practice optometry since 2008 and is the founder of Optician Now (opticiannow.com). Follow Carissa on Instagram and Facebook at @opticiannow.
Antonia replied in one long exhale, “How long are you supposed to give a job before you know you’ve reached the last straw?”
Kate didn’t have any advice, but it didn’t look like Antonia was done venting anyway. “I guess this is the perfect example of ‘It’s too good to be true’ — on paper, this was my perfect job but man, I am really at my wit’s end.”
“You were so excited when you first took this job, because it was so similar to your last job! And the pay and benefits are so great,” Kate recalled.
“Yeah, the job itself is so similar — same practice size, same kind of community and patient base, all the same equipment and EHR — there was no learning curve,” Antonia sighed.
“It does sound great,” Kate added. “So what’s going on there that’s literally sucking the life out of you?”
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“It’s like they’re all zombies — every time I suggest a more efficient way to do something, or slightly changing something because it saves money, they say ‘Well, we’ve always done it this way,’” Antonia complained. “Then they go back to doing their job like they’re walking in their sleep, the same as they have done since the day the practice opened.”
Kate replied, “That’s the worst — they aren’t helping themselves, their employees, OR their patients!”
“Absolutely not.” Antonia added, “Because they can’t try anything new, their patients suffer — they are getting the same almost-two-hour dilated eye exam since their first visit — the patients could get a better eye exam, with newer tech, on the internet!”
Kate half-laughed, “That’s terrible — you can’t do that in healthcare these days. The average person is not blind to the fact that they are getting patient care options from the previous decade.”
“I draw the line when they are myopic to providing good patient care simply because their tiny minds are incapable of processing something new. They push back on anything that is one-percent different than the ‘way they’ve always done it,’” Antonia concluded with air-quotes.
“When you put it that way, it sounds ridiculous,” Kate said. “This is not an industry where that flies — it’s evolve or die. It may be a slow death, but that’s the result.”
“Ultimately, I guess I have to decide if I grin and bear it while it eats my soul, knowing I am better than this, and just ride it out until something better comes along — or if I can deal with possibly treading water on this sinking ship…” Antonia lamented.
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The Big Questions
- What are some negatives and/or positives to “doing it the same way we always have”?
- If a practice owner or staff is stuck in a deep operational slump, how might they begin to get out?
- If you were Antonia, how would you go about effecting change in an office satisfied with complacency?
Susan E.
Austin, TX
Seems like Antonia is a go getter and the office she is at isn’t really about that. She’s probably annoying her co-workers. She needs to speak to the owner and see if they would be open to change and some of her ideas. If they are, with the owners’ backing implement one small non-invasive one. Have a team meeting over it and explain the benefits to staff of why it’s better for the patient and them. If the owner has no interest in changing things Antonia will never have the backing to get the staff on board. At that point, she either has to accept the position for what it is or find a new place.
Whitney H.
Missoula, MT
Not evolving business practices can lead to stagnation, and it sounds as if this scenario’s office is not only stuck but is not receptive to new ideas due to control issues. From experience, I’ve found that getting out of this kind of slump can be remedied by looking at the desired outcomes. What experience do we want our patients to have? With that in mind, where can fat be trimmed and new, exciting technology and procedures be implemented? If the staff are excited about the new technology or new inventory, they will pass that enthusiasm onto the patient. If the office and management are unwilling to change to get staff and patients excited, finding an office which fits this evolutionary model might be in order.
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