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Professional Behavior in the Workplace

Chapter 4

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How do professional medical assistants put aside personal issues and devote themselves to the patients in the office?

How can Karen meet her familial and work obligations equally well?

What steps should Karen take to ensure that both her family and her supervisors understand her obligations to the other?

How can Karen exhibit professional behavior and compassion for patients on a daily basis at the physician’s office?

Questions to consider…

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Professionalism is exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace. It is characterized by or conforms to the technical or ethical standards of a certain profession.

Why is professionalism important? Patients expect medical personnel to be professional.

Patients place their trust and confidence in those they deem to be professional.

Attitudes are conservative in the medical field, mandating professionalism.

Meaning of Professionalism

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Work ethics are set of values based on the moral virtues of hard work and diligence, involving a whole range of activities, from individual acts to the philosophy of the entire facility.

The medical assistant should always take initiative and be reliable.

Probationary periods allow the employer to determine the medical assistant’s work ethic.

A person with a good work ethic:

arrives on-time

is rarely absent

has a strong work output

is honest

is able to solve ethical problems

has a character that is above reproach

Work Ethics

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Loyalty – faithfulness or allegiance to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product

Dependability – be responsible for being part of the team and job tasks

Courtesy – kind words and compassion

Initiative – look for opportunities to be of help, completing tasks without being asked

Flexibility – able to adapt to a wide variety of situations

Credibility – perceived competence or character of a person; trustworthy

Confidentiality – ability to ensure patient privacy

Attitude – a good attitude is courtesy and kindness to others; being optimistic and calmly reacting in all situations, including negative people

Characteristics of Professionalism

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Sometimes it is difficult to be professional. Obstructions to professionalism include:

Personal Problems and Baggage

Rumors and “the Grapevine”

Personal Phone Calls and Business

Office Politics

Medical assistants must avoid bringing personal problems to work with them. These issues take the focus off of the patient. The most important priority in the physician’s office is to care for the patient, and personal problems can interfere with that goal.

Obstructions to Professionalism

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Situations medical assistants face outside of work may be difficult to leave at home.

These situations can interfere with the ability to perform at work.

Take a moment to discuss the situation with supervisors.

Use discretion when talking about the issues at hand.

Most supervisors will want to work with good employees through difficult times

Personal Problems and Baggage

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Rumors and gossip must be avoided in a professional medical facility.

These issues cause negative employee morale.

Rumors often become more exaggerated with each telling.

Medical assistants must be friendly and cordial to everyone.

Never take part in rumor-mongering or gossip in the office.

Rumors and the “Grapevine”

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Avoid receiving personal calls at work unless a serious emergency occurs.

This rule includes both the office phone and personal cell phones.

Do not conduct any type of personal business during working hours.

Use personal time to check personal email.

The physician has the right to expect the medical assistant to work consistently during the entire day.

Personal Phone Calls and Business

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Office politics can be positive or negative.

Positive office politics can lead to promotions and wage increases.

Negative office politics can lead to dissention and low employee morale.

Although office politics are found at virtually every office, they are not always negative.

Remember that teamwork and professionalism will help the medical assistant to stay positive even when negativity is present in the physician’s office.

Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Office Politics

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Professional attributes include:

Teamwork

Time Management

Prioritizing

Goal Setting

Professional Attributes

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Possibly one of the most important attributes to develop.

Staff members must work together for the good of the patients.

Cooperate with co-workers.

Teamwork promotes good employee morale.

Never say, “That’s not my job.”

Teamwork

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Use time efficiently.

Plan tasks that must be done.

Key to time management is prioritizing.

Time Management

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Prioritizing is deciding which tasks to do first.

Make a list of tasks.

Decide what must, should, and could be done today.

Place each task in numeric order within the “must,” “should,” and “could” categories.

Assign letters and numbers to categorize tasks.

Complete the tasks in order, and accomplish more every day.

Prioritizing

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Goals should be: Reasonable

Measurable

Written down

Monitored for progress

Set for all areas of an individual’s life

Celebrated when reached, even if it is a small accomplishment

Goal Setting

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It is important to know the people who work in the medical facility and their general job descriptions, so that patients can be referred to the person who knows the most about their problems.

It is very important to express appreciation to others whenever possible.

Knowing the Facility and Its Employees

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When documenting medical information:

write legibly

be complete

state facts, not opinions

state what was actually witnessed, not hearsay or information from a third party

never use sarcastic language

make corrections as directed

If an event is not charted, it did not happen. Chart only what you witness. For example, if a person fell from an examination table, but the medical assistant did not witness the fall, then he or she can only chart the condition in which the patient was found (e.g., on the floor) and what the patient says happened (e.g., “I fell off the table”).

Documentation

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Always have pen and paper ready for note taking in meetings and seminars.

Keep a small pad and pen in a pocket for quick notes.

The pad kept in the pocket is useful for jotting down physician orders, such as the dosage of an injection that needs to be given to a patient. Numerous other bits of information can be placed in the notebook, which will help the medical assistant to remember orders as well as events that need to be charted in the medical record.

Note Taking

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The success of any business is related to its ability to communicate effectively.

Medical assistants must continually work to improve their communications skills.

Look for continuing education opportunities in the communications realm.

Interpersonal Skills

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Substance abuse is the repeated and excessive use of a substance to produce pleasure and escape reality, despite its destructive effects.

Substance abuse is a huge concern in the medical community.

A health professional who has a substance abuse problem can easily make life-threatening mistakes and ruin his or her career in an instant.

If one of these four criteria is met, the person in question is likely a substance abuser.

Continued use despite social or interpersonal problems

Repeated use resulting in failure to fulfill obligations at work, school, and/or home

Repeated use resulting in physically hazardous situations

Use resulting in legal problems

Substance Abuse

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Understand the difference between use, dependence, abuse, and addiction.

Use – taking a drug or supplement for a condition

Dependence - A person is dependent on a drug if it must be used to provide a specific health benefit.

Physical dependence is not always a sign of addiction.

Abuse – the use of illegal drugs or the misuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

The abuse of prescription drugs is a growing concern in the United States. Some prescription drugs are highly addictive and result in a change to the user’s behavior. That change can be deadly in a medical environment.

Substance Abuse

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Abuse Criteria Tolerance for a drug

Withdrawal symptoms

Difficulty in controlling drug use

Negative consequences from drug use

Significant time or emotional energy spent seeking drugs

Neglecting regular activities

Desire to cut down on the use of a certain drug

Any person who experiences at least three of the seven drug abuse criteria in the same 12-month period could be considered an abuser and should seek drug counseling

Substance Abuse

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Understand the difference between use, dependence, abuse, and addiction.

Addiction – the compulsive use of a substance despite its negative and sometimes dangerous effects.

Always report suspected abuse to the physician.

Symptoms of Alcohol AbuseAlcohol abuse is a disease that involves the following four symptoms:

Craving – a strong urge or need to drink

Loss of control – not being able to stop drinking once it has begun

Physical dependence – withdrawal symptoms, such as shakiness, nausea, sweating, and anxiety occur after drinking

Tolerance – the need to increase the amount of alcohol taken in to get the same effect

“On any single occasion in the last 3 months, have you had more than five drinks containing alcohol?”

Substance Abuse

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CAGE QuestionnaireThe CAGE Questionnaire helps to identify patients who may have an alcohol abuse problem.

C – Have you ever felt that you needed to cut down on your drinking?

A – Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?

G – Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking?

E – Eye opener: Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover?

Detecting abuse issues early leads to the initiation of treatment, and this can help a person avoid becoming an alcoholic.

Substance Abuse

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Patients expect and deserve professional behavior

Show compassion, caring, and consideration to patients and visitors in the office

Earn the respect of co-workers

Become an indispensable team player in the medical office

Trust helps to prevent medical liability cases

Closing Comments

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Medical assistants are responsible for being team players

Arrive on time and avoid being absent from work

Put the patients first

Do not allow personal problems to interfere with work

Project a professional appearance

Discuss problems with supervisors before they escalate and become out of control

Summary of Scenario