A Physician’s Guide: Building Your Practice’s Workplace Culture
Any clinical or administrative professional who’s worked in more than one physician practice knows that not all practices are created equal.
As with just about any other type of workplace, medical practices can offer rewarding careers, a positive work environment, and a place where professionals can do their best work. Or they can be the type of employer where the staff is overworked and underappreciated, leading to high turnover, which is a challenge that continues to plague the healthcare field.
One thing makes healthcare settings different from other workplaces: Medical practices, clinics and hospitals are in the business of helping people at their most vulnerable times of need. Physician practices are good at putting patients first. When they apply this “people-first” principle to their own staff as well, they’re more likely to create a workplace culture where employees feel valued and committed to staying.
People First is More Than a Slogan
One of the most important lessons I learned about work was something my uncle taught me: Business is about people.
This is especially true in healthcare. No matter what kind of technology or processes you use, if your staff isn't engaged and if your patients don't feel like they've been seen and heard, then you’ve missed the mark.
Healthcare is about trust, empathy and human connection. If we don't prioritize people – our staff and our patients – no amount of innovation will truly make a difference.
Unfortunately, there are models of healthcare workplace culture that are not worth emulating. It breaks my heart to see how most “corporate healthcare” is run. Any setting where staff is squeezed for higher profitability, taken for granted, or otherwise not valued is a setting where the word “burnout” is mentioned daily (and where turnover is high.)
Building a practice that’s known for being a great place to work has been on my mind since before we opened our Avance Care practice in Wilmington. Heeding my uncle’s advice, we’ve worked hard to build the right culture. We might not always get it right, but we strive every day to make “put our people first” a principle to live by, not just a slogan.
What Culture Looks Like
I follow three broad concepts when looking at making our practice a great place to work. These principles should be applicable to any doctor or practice administrator looking to build a successful practice. Here’s a breakdown:
Invest heavily in the hiring process. There’s no substitute for spending time with a candidate before extending an offer. I almost always take them to lunch or dinner to learn more about them and see how they think. Specifically, I’m looking first for “two A’s”:
Attitude – folks who are open to learning, collaborative, resilient, steadfast
Aptitude – lifelong learners who are curious and want to keep growing, and able to adapt and thrive as the practice grows
And then I’m looking for evidence of “three C’s”:
Common sense – team members who can make sound, practical decisions, and who know to slow down and prioritize patient safety and well-being when something doesn’t feel exactly right
Critical thinking – people who don’t just blindly follow orders, but who are always thinking about how to make a process or procedure better
Creativity – someone who can improvise and problem solve; in healthcare, no two patients are identical, and the same technique or approach doesn’t always work for every patient
Give people room to grow. After you’ve hired the right types of people and assembled the right team, you have to empower them. At Avance Care Wilmington, our team is an integrated physician-led team that encourages clinical autonomy. We continue to grow by having monthly huddles, by having case discussions, and by sharing research articles. For example, our registered dietitian, Laurin Watts, MPH, RD, LDN, does this all the time. I've learned so much about nutrition from the materials she’s shared with the team.
Also, when vendors and sales reps want to meet with me, if they have interesting solutions, I ask that they schedule a lunch-and-learn for the team. I also try to always have a student or intern in the practice. That can create more work, but it also creates a teaching atmosphere where we all get used to sharing our knowledge and explaining why we do things the way we do.
Encourage community involvement. When healthcare teams participate in local events, charities, or outreach programs, they not only strengthen their communities but also create opportunities for staff to build relationships, enhance teamwork, and gain a deeper understanding of the populations they serve. We rotate giving team members the chance to share a cause or initiative they’re passionate about with the rest of the staff. This empowers each person to lead an effort they care about, while encouraging others to support their teammates' causes. For example, we recently partnered with the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce's Career and Leadership Development Academy (CLDA) where 45 middle school students visited the practice for a few hours and got to ask us a lot of questions. By the time they left, it was clear our entire staff felt inspired by the opportunity to help mentor these future leaders.
Every practice is different. Every community is different. These three principles work for us, and some version of these should work for you. The end result is what any doctor should want – a successful, high-performing, thriving practice that treats patients and staff with the utmost care and respect.
