Dr. Robyn Siperstein discusses practice growth strategies based on core values, including “caring” and more for patients and staff.
Robyn Siperstein, MD, Siperstein Dermatology Group, Boca Raton and Boynton Beach, Florida
“I grew all my office policies around my core values, which is how I was able to grow a practice that I started with just me in 2010 to the practice today, with more than 11 board-certified dermatologists, PAs, NPs, laser technicians, and staff of more than 100, in two stand-alone buildings,” said Robyn Siperstein, MD, who presented “Essential Office Policies for Your Practice” at the 2022 ASDS Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado.
Dr. Siperstein said she credits the success to “building the right basics early on.”
“When I first started my practice, I was able to show my staff how I wanted to treat our patients and how I wanted our policies to go. But as we grew larger… it became important for me to codify these core values. Our managers built practice policies around them.”
Creating Core Values
There are different ways to create core values. You could go online for guidance and discover the core values behind famous corporations like Starbucks, which are “teamwork, integrity, respect for culture, perseverance,” said Dr. Siperstein.
“I recommend that people come up with core values by asking questions—without using the words medical, health, skin, or dermatology, what best describes the character of your practice? What adjectives describe your perfect employee? What is the most important or unique thing about your practice?”
Dr. Siperstein’s core values are based on the acronym SCRIPT, which stands for safety, caring, respect, integrity, passion, and teamwork, she said.
“We created office policies around each of those values. And it’s really important. These policies aren’t just for your patients. They’re just as important for your staff members. Culture starts from the top down. The way that you treat your staff is how they’re going to treat your patients.”
Among the examples of policies built around “caring,” are a weekly email highlighting positive staff events—from anniversaries and birthdays to kids’ winning a soccer game, said Dr. Siperstein.
“We also give shoutouts to staff members who personify our core values. So the front desk member who walked one of our patients out to the car with an umbrella when it was raining, personified the core value of ‘caring.’”
In the name of “teamwork,” the practice does things like holding quarterly all-hands-on-deck staff meetings to break through departmental silos, said Dr. Siperstein.
“We try, above all, to have fun in the practice, while keeping patients safe and treating our patients well.”
Giving Staff a Voice
Dr. Siperstein said she likes to share a cartoon. In it, an employer asks the staff if there’s anything the employer can do to improve the practice. The staff answers that they’d like more training and could use more staff to do a better job and relieve stress. The employer responds, “Oh, we were thinking more of like a pizza party.”
“It’s one thing to ask the question, but you really need to listen because your staff will tell you exactly what you need to make your business grow. A lot of our office policies come from our staff. And we are always asking for feedback.”
That feedback starts early. For example, the onboarding assignment after a couple of weeks’ work for new hires is to share something they think will make the practice better, she said.
Giving staff a voice leads to better employee retention, according to Dr. Siperstein.
“We have annual awards nominated by one another, for those with the most teamwork, passion or caring. We have plaques up in the kitchen, including 5 and 10-year anniversary plaques and they’ve gotten quite numerous, which is a great compliment.”
Staff development checks many of the core value boxes, from safety and passion to teamwork, said Dr. Siperstein.
“We do a lot of staff development and continuing education. Four of our medical assistants were recently accepted to PA school. One went to medical school. All want to come back and work with us.”
It boils down to caring about the total employee, she said.
“Not just what they’re doing in the practice but their goals outside the practice.”
Dr. Siperstein said the practice does a lot of team-building events to energize the team and break down barriers.
“We do Habitat for Humanity where we build houses together. We do a lot of marathons. One of my favorite team building events was when we invited everybody to come with kids, cousins, etc., and build a bear. We built these cute bears and then went to a local children’s hospital (Joe DiMaggio) and were able to give those bears out. We support our community because it supports us. It also makes us feel good and allows interaction with people we don’t normally get to work with.”
Actions Speak Louder
Listing a practice’s core values on the wall doesn’t mean anything, but living those values in daily practice does, said Dr. Siperstein.
“Recently, we had to close the office because of Hurricane Ian. We had to decide whether to pay the staff for the day. That decision was pretty quick for the partners, even though that’s over a $10,000 decision with all our staff. We decided it was not their fault that we had to close and we cared about them. Standing behind those care values and showing them we mean business, makes them do the same thing when they come to work every day.”
The policies that benefit staff also impact patients, said Dr. Siperstein.
“For safety, in higher risk areas when injecting I take the time to use an ultrasound and our practice has many checklists to ensure our patient’s safety. To show we care, we don’t charge patients if we bruise them with cosmetic procedures. We have them come back for a complimentary treatment to get rid of the bruise faster. During painful procedures we offer nitrous oxide. For respect and caring we give five-year gifts, not only for staff but also patients to show how much we respect and care for them.”
One of the biggest hurdles for many is admitting their missteps or mistakes, said Dr. Siperstein.
“I am not above writing personal notes to my patients if I’m late, or calling them and apologizing. We’re not perfect and if we have a misstep, we have patient satisfaction recovery, or PSR, gifts. If there is an extra long wait, I empower my staff, without asking me, …to offer them those free things. The other day I was running late and went into a room and the patient said I want you to be late more often. I got all this cool stuff. You can imagine the difference with me going into a room where the patient is yelling at me for 10 minutes versus a patient who is really happy with all this free stuff.”
These are just examples of things Dr. Siperstein said she and her staff do to make a difference.
“At the end of the day, you need to differentiate your practice. Besides giving amazing dermatologic care, it’s important for us to go above and beyond and nurture enduring relationships.”
