Staffing Shortages in Ophthalmic Practices

Staffing Shortages

Staffing shortages are something that we all face in the world of healthcare. In ophthalmology specifically, we have seen an extreme shortage of ophthalmic technicians thanks to the COIVD-19 Pandemic along with the Great Resignation. With more and more employees leaving the job force to take care of their children, go back to school or pursue entrepreneurship, it leaves practice administrators scrambling for staffing solutions. Along with the current staffing shortages practices are facing, patient volumes also continue to rise after having appointments pushed back due to the pandemic. With less staff and more patients, administrators are having to get creative.

Existing Staff

It’s important to first start with the staff we do have. Are they getting enough breaks throughout the day? Are they being properly supported in their role? Is there anything you can do that can help make their job easier? It’s important to ask these questions regularly to be sure your employees are getting the most they can out of their jobs. The more you work with your employees, the harder they’ll work for you.

Creative Solutions

Once your current staff is taken care of, we then need to address the true problem; the staff we are missing. Understaffed clinics can be suffocating and finding effective solutions can be tough. This is exactly why Phone COA, LLC was originally created. In the midst of the pandemic and the Great Resignation, we saw a need in the ophthalmic community for qualified, dependable technician help. That’s why we created a company with an existing, virtual staff of technicians to call patients prior to their appointment and preload their medical information directly into your EMR system. That way, patient charts are completed before the patient even steps foot in your practice. If you’re an administrator facing staffing shortages, all you need to do is give Phone COA a call. We will find the right technician for your practice, with experience in your EMR, and have them calling your patients in no time. You get to completely skip the hiring process and our services are more affordable than hiring a full-time technician.

There are a million things to worry about in the world of healthcare today. Don’t let staffing shortages be one of them.

Contact us and get started, risk free, today.