One point for the pediatric receptionist who remembered to give a little boy a bright blue rhino sticker on his way out this time.<\/p>\n
Two points for another member of the staff who remembered to email Patient Linda, who missed two consecutive chiropractic sessions. Oh, and helping to properly dispose of tech equipment every few months is worth 20 points, namely because no one ever wants to do it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n You can gamify practice operations by attributing points to some of your team\u2019s most easily forgotten or least desirable periodic tasks. But it\u2019s not enough to offer chips or some other sort of token. Earning points should be incentivized, and here\u2019s how to do it.<\/p>\n Rate tasks in your practice from least to most desirable.<\/strong> More desirable tasks are given fewer points \u2013 we don\u2019t want your staff taking advantage of your generosity. Then, you assign point values to each task. You should take the difficulty of a given task into account here as well.<\/p>\n For instance, phone reminders may be unpopular, but they\u2019re not more difficult to carry out than spending hours on the phone with payers or re-alphabetizing files.<\/p>\n With that said, it\u2019s no surprise brands like Nike and organizations a la Khan Academy are using gamification to engage consumers, students and employees. But it\u2019s not a panacea either.<\/strong><\/p>\n Let your employees have a say, too, because poor gamification design leads to failure. You don\u2019t want them to feel you just quantified their work tasks for either your gain or just to make their lives miserable. A huge part of doing so is addressed below.<\/p>\n Set up a rewards system.<\/strong> There are really two kinds of rewards here. For starters, you\u2019re incorporating the usual kind of incentivization that typically comes to mind \u2013 10 points wins you a t-shirt, 50 points gets you lunch, etc.<\/p>\n \u201cThe points have to revolve around goals,\u201d said Shawn Sprockett, founder of Semio, a web-based learning platform in the professional training sphere that teaches through choose-your-own-adventure videos.<\/p>\n \u201cSo if your goal is for people to memorize information like procedures, protocols, and schedules, then the points may revolve around test scores,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n And what if you heighten the stakes a bit? If you incorporate benchmarks for leveling up<\/strong>\u00a0or a scenario in which a staff member gains a rank within the game-based system after accruing a given number of points, you\u2019ll find it\u2019s easy for your staff to further adhere to your game-based system. If you only provide extrinsic rewards for points earned, you minimize the powerful effect of intrinsic motivation.<\/p>\n \u201cLeveling up makes people feel good,\u201d said Sprockett.<\/p>\n Tracking!<\/strong> Not only can your medical practice set up a points-based, incentivized system for task completion, but you should be tracking progress. Where does it succeed? What shortcomings can you spot? Even a simple spreadsheet will do.<\/p>\n Not only does this help the system qua system, but tracking pitfalls can help with training new employees. Inserting new hires into an existing system can \u201copen up a dialogue for veterans to teach newcomers and for collaboration,\u201d says Sprockett.<\/p>\n So while veterans at your practice can welcome newer employees, the latter can demonstrate their adeptness at performing new tasks and possibly level up within the system on a more public platform. Suddenly it becomes easier to evaluate new employees.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn this sense, gamification is better for recruitment than anything else,\u201d added Sprockett. But some of us procrastinate, and gamification can be a very effective way to set and meet goals, which sharpens output and, of course, improves efficiency, profitability, and a bunch of other words that end in \u2018y\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n For engaging content that breaks the \u2018practice-help-blog\u2019 mold, sign up for the Power Your Practice newsletter!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One point for the pediatric receptionist who remembered to give a little boy a bright blue rhino sticker on his way out this time. Two points for another member of the staff who remembered to email Patient Linda, who missed two consecutive chiropractic sessions. Oh, and helping to properly dispose of tech equipment every few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-revenue"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nBut after all, this, keep in mind that gamification isn\u2019t for everyone. The A-types at your practice may even opt out, seeing as they\u2019re the type to never leave a used catheter behind, so to speak. And it\u2019s also not some sort of quick fix. It can offer a temporary boost at your practice, but it needs to be kept fresh.<\/p>\n