How to Hire a Therapy Assistant for Your Practice

If you are thinking of starting your own private practice or if you have one, hiring a therapy assistant will be a big help to you. You won't have too much on your shoulder and their ideas and talent can contribute to the success of your business.

How else can an assistant help you? You can ask your assistant to help you with simple work such as answering phone calls, attending your patients' schedules, collecting payments, making your patients feel comfortable, scaning documents, maintaining the cleanliness of your therapy clinic, keeping track of supplies and many more.

Having said that, a good therapy assistant is not easy to find and once you've found the right one, try to not lose them. Here are a few suggestions:

• Indentify what you want. Ask yourself this question: What would you want your assistant to do? What experiences are you looking for? Keep in mind that there are times when a person with less formal training may be perfect for you.
   
• Conduct a structured interview. During the interview, ask them about their strengths and weaknesses. This is usually a tricky question but don't miss this out. Even if it sounds silly, it's always best to give them a math and spelling test! Also, give them situations that usually happens in your practice like rude patients and ask them how would they deal with them.
   
• Be clear about your expectations. Once you've hired someone, orient them about their job description and let them know what happens when your expectations are not met. No, I'm not telling you to scare them but being transparent on this is best. During the probationary period, if you've noticed that they are not making your life easier and causing harm to your private therapy practice, then realize that you've probably hired the wrong person.
   
• Let them know they are doing a good job. If your assistant is constantly meeting up with your expectations, don't keep it a secret. They would want to hear a "good job!" once in awhile. How about increasing their salary or providing bonuses?

Therapists, it is so much easier to keep a good person than to find another one and going through the whole process again. It is not only time consuming, but it is expensive too. Keep your therapy assistants happy!

Therapy professionals, if you enjoy writing or would like to share your expertise and are interested in becoming a PutMeBackTogether contributor, please click here.

About the author: Barbara C. Phillips, NP is the founder of NP Business™ and Nurse Practitioner Business Owner™ and works with NPs to get started and grow their own business. To sign up for "Progress Notes", weekly business tips in your inbox, and to claim your gift just for reading, visit NP Business Tips or her blog at NP Business. Feel free to add your comments in the forum, the Facebook page or on my NP Blog.

Did you like this article? Share it!