Managing Healthcare Anxiety and Stress: Effective Strategies
I have been working in the healthcare field for close to 30 years now. I’ve owned practices, worked for others, and held multiple titles. I can say that I’ve done just about everything from receptionist to CEO. Yet, I have never experienced the level of healthcare anxiety and workplace stress that I see around me today.
The increasing regulations in healthcare make everything take longer to accomplish due to the paperwork and liability involved. Add to that the financial challenges, cybercrime, workplace violence, and a quick-to-sue society, and it’s no wonder we are experiencing significant stress in the healthcare sector.
Embracing Compliance as a Necessity
Even with all these challenges, I refuse to give in. Instead, I focus on the battles I can win and seek out opportunities. I’ve realized that healthcare compliance is just like malpractice insurance—a necessary cost of doing business. However, relying on office managers or IT clerks for compliance tasks is not the best approach.
To address this, I created a system that simplifies over 70% of compliance tasks and made them available through EPI Compliance. For tasks requiring specialized skills, such as the HIPAA Security Risk Analysis, I trained a team under Taino Consultants to complete these annually for me and others who need them.
Building a Supportive Workplace Environment
Managing healthcare anxiety and workplace stress is an ongoing process. I aim to be transparent with my team and empower them to be part of the solutions as we face issues. For those needing assistance, I have a behavioral health practice that offers confidential counseling via telemedicine. Additionally, I refuse to tolerate any patient abusing our team verbally or otherwise—I will always have their back.
Implementing a Problem-Solving Technique
Lastly, I teach my team my standard problem-solving technique:
- Identify the issue and available resources.
- Create a process (system) to address the issue.
- Implement and modify as needed.
We will continue to face challenges in the future, but rather than giving up, I will work with my team and continue to seek solutions that enable us to effectively manage healthcare anxiety and workplace stress, ensuring we provide the best care for our patients.