Cynex Consulting

What Workplace Compliance Posters am I Required to Post at my Medical Practice?

Wed, 06 May 2020 11:22:04 -0700

What Workplace Compliance Posters am I Required to Post at my Medical Practice?

Owning and running a medical practice has unique challenges. Not only do physician owner-operators have to manage patient care, they also have to manage business. Failure to do so has dangerous consequences. When it comes to figuring out what posters physicians should post in their break rooms, here's some info that should clear things up a bit.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is the federal agency that regulates employers who hire employees. The great news is that this same agency provides a ton of great information for employers about how to properly manage operations related to employees as well as free access to the workplace compliance posters they require employers to post!

In fact, the DOL has a free tool on their website that practices can use to determine the exact posters they need based on how many staff the practice employs, whether it employs foreign individuals, individuals with a disability certified by the DOL, and other unique circumstances.

We recommend that all medical practice start with this free DOL tool to determine what posters to display in their break rooms: elaws First Step Poster Advisor

Federal Workplace Compliance Posters

Here are some examples of federal workplace compliance posters that many medical practices are required to post:

Break Time for Nursing Mothers

Employee Rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law (15 or more employees)

The Employee Polygraph Protections Act (EPPA)

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Job Safety and Health (OSHA)

*Paid Sick Live and Expanded Family and Medical Leave Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) [applies from April 1, 2020 through...Read More

Never been so happy for an Org Chart

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 17:57:47 -0800

Now Available: Link to Chapter & Regional Org Charts
With contact information too!

Howdy to the HBA SW Regional Board Members! We now have a file that contains the organization charts for each chapter in our region (Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, & Phoenix), as well as an org chart for our regional contacts.

Each chart contains the name, email address & phone number of the board member in each role.

The file is now available online and will be kept up-to-date by the Regional COE.

Want a hard copy? Just click download and it's yours!

Want single-click email link access? Done and done! Just click any email address and try it out!

See something that needs an edit? Just send it in!

The Small Print:

The digital file is kept up-to-date by the HBA SW Regional COE.
If you download the file as a PDF, please check back often to make sure you have the most recent version.
Each page of the file contains a date stamp of the last update.

Each chart contains the name, email address & phone number of the board member in each role.

The file is now available online and will be kept up-to-date by the Regional COE.

Want a hard copy? Just click download and it's yours!

Want single-click email link access? Done and done! Just click any email address and try it out!

Here's a quick-line from this article: Read More

Stop giving your files a bad name

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 17:34:32 -0800

Would you give your child a bad name? Of course not! Well, unless you had to. But that's why we have middle names, right? For hiding all of the must-do-it-to-stay-in-the-will-names.

When it comes to file names, the problem is that we just can't hide them. Worse yet, we can't find them!

If you find yourself constantly searching for files or being asked by your boss what something you named is, you are guilty of giving files a bad name.

Best Practices for Naming Computer Files

Use a standardized naming convention for all of files of a similar "type".
START your name off right
1. For most files, it's best to start your file name with the noun that best explains what the file contains
  1. Example: Org Chart, Dept-Finance
2. For records that expire, it's best to start your file name with the expiration date. Why? So that you can easily see what records you need to take action on before they expire!
  1. Example: YYYY.MM.DD Car Insurance Policy
  2. Remember to start your file name with the year, otherwise you'll have trouble. Take a look...
    1. Trouble
      1. 03.12.2019 Car Insurance Policy
      2. 09.12.2017 Car Insurance Policy
      3. 09.21.2018 Car Insurance Policy
      4. 10.30.2019 Car Insurance Policy
    2. No Trouble
      1. 2017.09.12 Car Insurance Policy
      2. 2018.09.21 Car Insurance...Read More

Leaving a Medical Practice

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 14:38:22 -0800

Leaving your Medical Practice in Texas - or anywhere? This is a must-read...

Cynex Consulting was highlighted in the January 2017 issue of MD Monthly Magazine for an article titled, "Leaving Your Medical Practice". In this article, former healthcare COO Cynthia Huchingson dispels myths and turns the negative connotations with leaving a practice on their head. Regardless of the reason for your transition, whether it is strategically planned or an "out on your tail" with little notice type of exit, she stresses the importance of managing the transition with exacting operations, marketing, legal, & financial strategies.

Cynex Consulting provides both turnkey and a la carte services to providers in need of transition assistance. Headquartered in Austin, Cynthia is the go-to resource for physicians in Texas and is one of the most experienced transition experts in the state. Cynex Consulting provides services to physicians outside of a Texas on a case-by-case basis, and will provide a free initial review of your transition needs.

Click the article image above to read "Leaving Your Medical Practice" in MD Monthly Magazine.

Common Services for Transitioning Doctors:

LEGAL
- Notify State Medical Board
- Write and publish notification in newspaper and other required information mediums
- Write notification letter for patients seen within past 2 years
- Manage printing, mail merge, and entire mailing of required patient notification letters
- Manage business filing requirements for new medical practices (Tax ID, etc)
MARKETING
- Create new logos and marketing collateral as/if needed for the new practice
- Create temporary and/or permanent websites as required
- Create...Read More

Partner Meetings, Physician Outbursts, and Dale Carnegie

Mon, 03 Oct 2016 09:53:21 -0700

Earlier this month I went on a walking meeting with a good physician friend along the lakes of beautiful Ladybird Lake in downtown Austin. During our walk, she expressed her surprise when, during a partner meeting one of the physician owners rolled her eyes dramatically and mouthed disgust over the ensuing discussion. I wasn't as surprised given my experience in physician partner meetings and the -- how can I phrase this -- near Tony-award-winning expressions and performances I have witnessed. Because these "performances" seem so commonplace in the medical industry, I thought I would dedicate a few words to it this month.

I'm not a psychologist, but I can't help but hypothesize that the frequency of this problem among you 'doctor types' might have something to do with your unbelievable heart, passion, and concern for humanity combined with a lifetime of education learning to identify, diagnose, and “fix” (aka - make decisions promptly, authoritatively, and in a silo). Further, as a kid, you were likely so bright that your good grades made it possible to skim right through some of the more qualitative subjects, such as those proffered by the likes of Dale Carnegie and Daniel Goleman.

As a b-school junkie, the quaint smells and hands-on atmosphere in the biology lab where you excelled left me in the hallway hunched over and green-faced. Learning "how to win friends and influence people" was going to be a necessity in my life. So today I wanted to share with you a few lessons, using the scientific method, of course, that I would like for you to "experiment" with for greater success in getting your point across, expressing dissention, and achieving measurable outcomes in partner meetings…

OBSERVATION:

Your physician partner meetings are inefficient and rarely productive. If you express displeasure or...Read More

Mature Medical Practices: Common Services

Fri, 19 Aug 2016 12:23:07 -0700

Are you in a mature medical practice? CynEX Consulting provides physicians with expert help in managing all or part of their business. Some of the most common services we provide mature practices are listed below.

Interim and Special Projects

Interim executive services for open positions or part-time needs
Special project implementation or assistance
New division feasibility analysis
New division launch

Partner Strategy

Strategic redesign for retiring partner exits and new partner entrances
Proposal creation for division of assets or ownership
Partner strategy meetings

Internal Messaging & Customer Service

Company fact sheets to ensure all of your employees are telling your story the way you would like it told
Phone scripts
Customer service training

Operations

Structure creation & rules of conduct for efficient chart rounds, partner meetings, and board meetings
Review and redefine corporate structure and reporting relationships
Creation of management dashboards so that key leaders can easily track essential practice metrics
Process assessment: patient intake, referrals, etc.
Process streamlining
Efficiency improvements
Partner meeting process design for efficient, effective meetings
Creation of procedures or digital systems for repetitive tasks
Management of new offices - site selection, budgeting, finish-out, move, staff training

Marketing & Business Development

Physician to physician direct marketing for new physicians
Business stationary updates
Marketing material updates & digitization
Update and/or digitize patient intake forms
Patient education material updates

Human...Read More

Growing Medical Practices: Common Services

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 12:00:05 -0700

Are you in a growing medical practice? CynEX Consulting provides physicians with expert help in managing all or part of their growth. Some of the most common services we provide growing practices are listed below.
Internal Messaging & Customer Service
Company fact sheets to ensure all of your employees are telling your story the way you would like it told
Phone scripts
Customer service training
Operations
Review and redefine corporate structure and reporting relationships
Creation of management dashboards so that key leaders can easily track essential practice metrics
Process assessment: patient intake, referrals, etc.
Partner meeting process design for efficient, effective meetings
Creation of procedures or digital systems for repetitive tasks
Management of new offices - site selection, budgeting, finish-out, move, staff training
Marketing & Business Development
Marketing plan development
Physician to physician direct marketing
Business stationary creation & printing
Marketing material creation & printing
Update and/or digitize patient intake forms
Patient education materials
Online business listing creation and maintenance
Online review maintenance
Website design/re-design
Blog writing
SEO (search engine optimization) & SEM (search engine marketing)
Creation and strategic use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)
Ad design (print and digital media) & maintenance
Direct mail campaigns
Human Resources
Staff skills assessment - what you have, what you need
Staff talent assessment - right person, right place, right time
Role definition & assignment/re-assignment
Policy & procedure creation
Creation &...Read More

New Medical Practices: Common Services

Sun, 12 Jun 2016 10:42:37 -0700

Starting a new medical practice? CynEX Consulting provides physicians with expert help in managing all or part of their launch. Some of the most common services we provide new practices are listed below.
Legal
Filing of legal registration & EIN documents
Financial
Strategy design and creation of business plan
Creation of pro forma financial statements for cash flow planning and financing needs
Bookkeeping services
Operations
Credentialing with insurance companies
Hospital credentialing
Phone/Fax setup
HIPAA compliant email setup
EMR selection, billing company selection & programming
Office location research
Management of your office finish-out
Marketing & Business Development
Marketing plan development
Physician to physician direct marketing
Logo & branding design
Business stationary creation
Marketing material creation
Patient intake forms
Patient education materials
Online business listing creation and maintenance
Online review maintenance
Website design
Blog writing
SEO (search engine optimization) & SEM (search engine marketing)
Creation and strategic use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)
Ad design (print and digital media) & maintenance
Direct mail campaigns
Human Resources
Employee payroll and timekeeping systems implementation
Employment tax filing
Policy & procedure creation
Job description writing
Read More

Play Your Cards Right

Sun, 15 May 2016 08:13:44 -0700

There should be several reasons that you should avoid feeling like Patrick Bateman’s American Psycho, so let CynEx help you do so by having the most beautiful business card of them all. But wait a second… it’s the Digital Age, do business cards matter? The answer is yes.
Business cards are not only one of the first impressions you leave on a potential consumer or partner, but also one of the most effective direct marketing tools. As soon as you meet someone, you should feel confident in giving him or her your business card. Your business card reflects not only your business, but also you, and allows for a more personal form of communication, versus the impersonal form of digitally trading information. We typically exchange business cards with someone when we first meet them and this is no accident. Semantic memory occurs as we associate new words or names with other “templates” in our brain. (Mohan) That’s why it’s much easier for a football zealot who played the game during his youth to remember scores from multiple games, names of seemingly innumerable football players, and stats on myriad players. When we meet someone for the first time, we need to create as many opportunities as possible for our name to stick, because once the associated links have been deeply rooted, the presentation of any related stimulus will be sufficient to call us our name to memory.
So do we have any tools in our personal toolkits that will increase our chances of survival within a strangers mind? We have two - our business card and our first impression. Thus, the appearance, dimensions, tactility, and linguistic arts of your business card are absolutely essential to becoming memorable as they create multiple pathways for those associations to form in a short period of time.
At CynEx Consulting, we custom design and print business cards for our clients. We search high and low to constantly ensure that we are utilizing the highest quality paper and materials at the...Read More

Public Relations: Real or Bull?

Sat, 16 Apr 2016 11:04:41 -0700

In our capitalistic America, jobs are forever being created and destroyed as new branches of jobs are constantly being formed. One recent development within the communication sphere that has emerged is public relations. When I tell people that my degree is in this ill-defined space, I am usually faced with a follow up question sounding something like, “oh that sounds cool, but what exactly do you do?” That question is harder to answer than it seems, since PR can be applied to entertainment, business, or just about any field, really. At CynEx Consulting, we apply our PR skills to help medical professionals manage and market themselves.
There are two main PR strategies - proactive and defensive. Being proactive consists of not only knowing how to market yourself and your company, but also being involved in the community. It is important to keep potential patients and fellow doctors up-to-date on your practice by distributing press releases, post cards with information or even an occasional letter regarding specific updates that may occur, such as expanding your practice. CynEx aids in the drafting, design and distribution of those materials, saving not only money but also time.
As human beings with busy schedules and long nights, it is hard to carry the weight of the world on only one person’s shoulders, which is why the majority of doctors work in practices, or with others to help with additional tasks. Unfortunately, it is also natural as human beings to come to a sort of conflict with one another. Inter-business conflicts have the potential of leaking to the media, or others in the community, threatening your practice’s image. In addition to conflicts between coworkers, according to an article published by NPR, between 210,000 and 440,000 patients die from mistakes made in American hospitals. We understand that the medical field is a risky one and can help with those interpersonal or large-scale conflicts by carrying out...Read More

Cynex Consulting

What Workplace Compliance Posters am I Required to Post at my Medical Practice?

What Workplace Compliance Posters am I Required to Post at my Medical Practice?

Federal Workplace Compliance Posters

Never been so happy for an Org Chart

Now Available: Link to Chapter & Regional Org Charts With contact information too!

Stop giving your files a bad name

Best Practices for Naming Computer Files

Leaving a Medical Practice

Leaving your Medical Practice in Texas - or anywhere? This is a must-read...

Common Services for Transitioning Doctors:

Partner Meetings, Physician Outbursts, and Dale Carnegie

Mature Medical Practices: Common Services

Growing Medical Practices: Common Services

New Medical Practices: Common Services

Play Your Cards Right

Public Relations: Real or Bull?

Now Available: Link to Chapter & Regional Org Charts
With contact information too!