Hey folks.
This is more of a private practice issue, as opposed to a school/residency issue. Since I no longer see a private practice forum, I decided to post it in here. Allow me to vent for a minute. I know the folks out in private practice can feel me on this post. WHAT IS THE DEAL with office managers?????

First of all, they are hired with good intention, to help run the office. There are many tasks that an office manager does such as: Hiring & firing of staff, negotiating contracts, dealing with some of the mundane office tasks (paying bills, keeping things kosher for inspection from the various agencies, assist with referrals, etc) while allowing you to tend to the medical things. Sounds good, right????

Well, lets fast forward a few years later. This supposedly benign office manager has now evolved into a GODZILLA-BEYOTCH before your very eyes, who now acts as if he/she is your boss. And what’s worse is that many docs just passively accept this role and let him/her run the show. This can be especially NIGHTMARISH if the office manager is the SPOUSE of the group leader, and you are one of the contracted employed docs.

Now the powers expand, they start opening your mail for you BEFORE YOU SEE IT. Now your mail is filtered and opened before you see it, they start committing you to contracts that you did not get a chance to see if that is something you wanted or not. Furthermore, this person with often ZERO medical training now starts WEARING A WHITECOAT AND/OR SCRUBS TO THE OFFICE, like he/she is some sort of practitioner all of a sudden. Even to the point of making clinical decisions with regard to certain patients. Now you KNOW at this point you created a monster. For icing on the cake, a spouse/office manager I know of is pulling almost a physician’s salary from the practice, yet the physician is always complaining about lack of funds. Why in da haill you allowed your wife to get that much money from the practice considering that your only source of income are the patient visits and hospital visits, and yet you are always complaining about money.

Anybody going through this/have gone through this???? Please share you office manager experiences/nightmares…

For the record, I am now a SOLO practitioner, and the ONLY office manager is ME!!


PEACE!!!

-Derek

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Moderator - UNIBE, Main Foreign Med Schools

"This can be especially NIGHTMARISH if the office manager is the SPOUSE of the group leader...."


Nightmarish is definitely the correct word!!! I will be attending med school this jan. at SGU, but for the last year, i have worked for a gynecologist whose office manager his is wife. She is a former kindergarten teacher, with absolutely NO medical background. She is horrendous.....she has no idea about policies or procedures....if she doesn't know how to do something, she makes the nurses (us) do it, and if we screw it up, she throws a fit!!! If a patient has a complaint she refuses to talk to them, instead passing it on to us to handle....recently, a new hire was needed and she made US do the interviews!!! On top of this, she only comes into the office when it is convenient for her....she works maybe 20-25 hours per week, yet pays herself for 40 hours, plus throws in 5 hours of overtime a week!!! We are forbidden to work overtime (she says the doctor does not want the added expense), and if we do exceed 40 hours in a week, she makes us "bank the time" for future use.....it is horrible!!

"Furthermore, this person with often ZERO medical training now starts WEARING A WHITECOAT AND/OR SCRUBS TO THE OFFICE, like he/she is some sort of practitioner all of a sudden."

OMG, you have this problem too!!! Every once in a while, our office manager will show up in scrubs and then start to tell us how we need to handle the patients!!! She has no idea how to do a blood pressure or even what the numbers mean!!! it's actually pretty hilarious....she'll say things like "Now, when the patient comes in you need to make sure you hook up that blue thingy and get a good number!!" We just laugh at her, she is that ridiculous!!!


I have no plan to go into primary care....but on the off chance that my step scores are horrendous and i have too....i will definitely not be hiring any relative or spouse!!! you are just setting yourself up for major practice problems!!!

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I have no plan to go into primary care....but on the off chance that my step scores are horrendous and i have too....i will definitely not be hiring any relative or spouse!!! you are just setting yourself up for major practice problems!!![/quote]


It's sad that you are caught up in the thought that only doctors with "horrendous" scores go into primary care. Do you even realize what constitutes primary care? Primary care (per US Medicare/Medicaid) includes family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/Gyn. hummm...do you really want to be a doctor? (You might have to interact with a patient you know). Let me guess...you will "ace the boards" and leave everyone in the dust as you set up your specialty radiology/dermatology clinic? LOL get real....

The primary care place I go to just about everyone has scubs on except the nurses and the Doctor. What is wrong with this picture? The receptionist, billing person and file clerk all have scubs on!!! I find it amusing that they feel scubs gives them some sort of wierd status and power.

Agree - Yea 70+% of the jobs are in that group. Some people have very interesting daydreams about what they will be doing. Fact is education is pretty much channlized. Unless you are bucking for a research position and maybe have the old PhD in cell biology to help you. If you are coming from an island school - you need will need good boards and very good references to make even into the major 70%. Chances are you will be practicing in the major 70%.

It's sad that you are caught up in the thought that only doctors with "horrendous" scores go into primary care. Do you even realize what constitutes primary care? Primary care (per US Medicare/Medicaid) includes family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/Gyn. hummm...do you really want to be a doctor? (You might have to interact with a patient you know). Let me guess...you will "ace the boards" and leave everyone in the dust as you set up your specialty radiology/dermatology clinic? LOL get real....[/quote]

wow....you guys read into things WAY TOO MUCH!!! i'm not caught up in the idea that only doctors with "horrendous" scores go into primary care...i'm caught up with the idea that I will get a horrendous score!!! and therefore end up doing something that is not in my interest...that was what i was implying....for me primary care is NOT MY GOAL!!! so stop being so sensitive, and learn to deal with other's opinions.

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actually jameslynton....i know several graduates of "island schools" who did not ace their boards, and yet still managed competitive residencies...it's not called daydreaming....it's called hard work!! ER, surgery, anethesiology.....all attainable!!!

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it's actually called lack of basic understanding of the system. competitive residencies flow in cycles. all of the "people" you know in the above esidencies probably matched during an off cycle for that specialty IF they had avg or below avg boards. anesth was easy to get 5 years ago, got difficult and is starting to get a bit easier again, surgery was easy 7 years ago, and ER was begging for people 10 years ago before the glorification of the drunk guard (ER 2am-6am) by "the show"

also starting med school you really have no clue what you will like and not like. i know people with great boards who absolutely loved peds and psych after swearing on the island that it was surgery or nothing so the natural order of things is to attend school pass boards do rotations and try and find something you like. i worked in FP for a few years and absolutely knew thats what i wanted..until i did other rotations, i loved neuro, surgery and obgyn of all things..

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OBGYN PGY II
I see light at the end of the tunnel!!!...wait a minute its just another freakin tunnel!