Medical Billing Blog

Successful Billing Teams

  

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What is it that distinguishes a successful billing operation from a mediocre one?  How is it that some organizations seem to thrive on and embrace change and others appear to use all its will to fight change? Is it possible to transform a sub par organization to a highly successful one?

The answer is found in two places: leadership and the team they lead.  One without the other does not work effectively......together they can successfully hold an organization to higher standards of effort and bring about a positive cash flow energizing the organization and rewarding performers.

The billing team is a direct reflection of the leadership.  Leadership is different than management, in that leaders always make changes.  Management run organizations and tend to institutionalize the "status quo".  Both are needed, but leaders make the difference to the team.....and a good team makes the difference for the leaders.

So what are the hallmarks of a winning team?

• they buy the vision, meaning that they are motivated by the vision of the leader. This can only happen when goals and values are clearly and often relayed to the team in a meaningful way. Teams are willingly led by those who have the courage and vision to make things happen. Leaders are responsible for creating the vision, teams are responsible for carrying it out. Good teams embrace change, they understand that to continuously analyze and make changes to processes leads them successfully forward.
• they are valued. Nothing can kill the team "spirit" faster than a leader who does not recognize that "we are all in the is together"  When one succeeds, the other succeeds. Good teams look to leaders for direction and inspiration because they know their efforts will be valued.
• they work smart. When leaders understand that whether it is the person who sorts the mail, or the payment poster or the AR  specialist or the coder; all must be trained to work smart....not just hard.  This is brought about by investment in knowledge. AR knowledge is certainly essential and must be taught as a total skill; not just a specific skill for a specific job.  Soft-ware knowledge is crucial to facilitating the AR knowledge as knowing how the soft-ware is designed to handle typical AR scenarios and using all of the functionality offered is key to success.
• they are accountable.  Good teams understand that the measure of their success is measurable. Leaders build accountable cultures where they hold themselves and their team to the highest core values of the organization. Good leaders know that evidence based evaluations are necessary to hold people accountable. Competency alone is not good enough; the consistent execution of daily tasks must be accomplished.
• they are balanced. Teams need lovers of details, AR detectives, excellent inter-personal skills and the ability to communicate back to the leader in a way that conveys interest, skill and passion. If the job of a leader is to motivate others to get things done, the job of the team is to make sure those things are done right.
• they are focused. Good teams understand the mission, have the skills, are motivated and are clearly focused on their tasks.  Everyone in the organization must be focused on getting the cash in the door. They understand how their job contributes to the over-all success of the organization and are proud of their contribution. Their pride in a job well done is recognized and rewarded by leaders. 
• they are evolving. Like all good leaders who are constantly on the cutting edge of the industry though what they read and hear and listen to; teams are allowed to evolve, to grow professionally and personally.  They are encouraged to set personal goals and pursue them.  They stop coming to work just for the pay-check and begin coming to work for the challenge and the reward of being on a winning team.
• they are empowered. Real leaders are not threatened by a team that embraces new ideas and makes decisions to better their skills. Teams that are empowered to bring fresh ideas to perform the specifics of their jobs in a way that brings effectiveness, efficiency and innovation are always successful. It's their "turf".......let them be the groundskeepers.
• they have fun. Teams work hard and play hard.  By providing fun times for the team, whether that be through company cook-outs, play days or holiday parties, a leader recognizes that the team deserves to laugh, have fun, and even celebrate together the success they achieve.
• they are inter-dependent.  A typical business office is comprised of a variety of teams each focused on a specialized part of accounts receivables.  However, they understand how one area affects the other and work inter-dependently to achieve common goals. A leader promotes communication and problem-solving by the team.  The team answers that trust with brain-storming and idea sharing to keep each member actively engaged.

By recognizing the roles and importance of each person in the organization, team trust builds confidence......confidence energizes the team to work together to achieve the leaders goals and vision. 

Team building takes time and energy.  It requires leaders to listen to and respect team members. But when leaders make the commitment to the team to develop and build the team........the team always answers back by throwing themselves into the job at hand with enthusiasm, optimism and pride.