How We Train Our Employees to Do More for Our Patients
We all know the drill. We apply to jobs, go through interviews and we get hired. We have our first day, where everything’s new and (sometimes) exciting. We’re learning, and then learning some more. After a few months, we’ve got a pretty good handle on things and at the one-year mark, we’ve veritably stagnated into some sort of a groove. That’s about the gist of it. But at Elk Ridge Chiropractic & Wellness Center, we believe that continual growth and training of our employees is the key to a successful business, plus a score of happy customers.
As a small business, we understand that adaptability and versatility are key aspects to growing and maintaining a healthy business, which is why we employ a wide range of equally adaptable and versatile employees who are not only great at their jobs, but who have the ability to expand their knowledge and skillsets to create a more coherent working atmosphere that not only serves our office, but also our patients. Because we know that if our patients are happy with the services they receive, they keep coming back. That’s just good business!
Let’s go into some detail about how this works.
Elk Ridge owner, Dr. Natasha Ruegsegger, will be the first to tell you that it’s important not only to hire quality professionals, but also admirable individuals who love their jobs. While it’s crucial to employ those with degrees and licenses in the desired field — doctors of chiropractic, chiropractic assistants, massage therapists, billing managers, office managers, etc. — we would argue that there is an additional prerequisite to hiring a great employee: finding someone with the desire to learn and to help others.
Just think. If a publishing company hires someone who is qualified to publish books, but who lacks the creative vision and the drive to pick out compelling stories and help them to be shared, not only is that employee not fulfilling his or her job description to its fullest extent, but as a result, less interesting books will be published, and the publishing house may lose a bit of its charm as an institution that puts out interesting content. The employee themself may or may not suffer, but the company certainly will, and so will their readers. That’s why it’s imperative to employ those qualified in the job, but also qualified as people too.
Let’s loop back to Elk Ridge Chiropractic. Dr. Natasha has done an excellent job of hiring for the job listed, as well as in being able to take newly hired and existent employees and adapting them to other areas in order to build a better office that can cater to its patients on a deeper level. Let’s give an example, shall we?
Julie is a current employee at Elk Ridge Chiropractic, who’s journey to where she is now has been nothing short of empowering. “I started at Elk Ridge as a temporary front desk agent, filling in for vacations,” she tells us. However, Dr. Natasha quickly realized that Julie’s skills as a front desk agent, partnered with her prior experience at Nordstrom and the Oregon Legislature, made her the ideal candidate for other roles around the office.
“I began at Elk Ridge in August,” Julie says. “Now, my job has morphed into billing and troubleshooting, in addition to filling in at the front desk. I love a new challenge, and have had a lot of fun along the way!”
Julie’s new role as an in-house biller was an exceptionally big and exciting step for Elk Ridge, adding that extra, personalized touch to our office. We couldn’t be happier with the change!
Michele is another example of Elk Ridge’s desire to build a strong team of specialists who can work together in an environment that they love, while bringing to table not just the qualifications they walked in with, but those they are continually working to build.
“I came to Bend to accept a job as a licensed massage therapist at Elk Ridge,” Michele explains. “Since I was new to Bend, I knew it would take some time to build my clientele. I had a lot of free time at the beginning, so Dr. Natasha offered to have me train to become certified as a chiropractic assistant as well.”
Once again, Dr. Natasha saw a potential for growth, as she explains further. “The benefit of training employees for their chiropractic assistant license in-house is that we are able to customize the training to best fit the needs of our patients. Here at Elk Ridge Chiropractic, our employees get more hands-on training than they would utilizing an online or weekend seminar scenario. Our employees are trained in many different manual therapy techniques (dynamic cupping, graston, fire cupping, aroma massage) that is normally not taught with other forms of certification. All of our providers are taught how to recognize when to utilize different techniques and changes in a patient’s condition.”
The result? Our patients can receive more thorough treatments from both the massage therapy perspective, as well as additional physical therapy added onto chiropractic adjustments. And as we all know, thorough treatment means quicker healing, and ultimately happier patients. It’s a win for everyone!
For Michele, it’s a rewarding experience. “I enjoy the opportunity that Elk Ridge has given me, as this training has helped to amplify the abilities I’ve already gained, allowing me to expand my repertoire so I can help people to ease their pain. It also inspires me to learn more!”
Likewise, Dr. Natasha shares, “We are so proud to be able to serve the Central Oregon community in such a unique and individual way.”
Elk Ridge is excited to continue utilizing its skilled professionals in the treatment of our patients by hiring certified professionals who are also quality individuals with a passion for growth. Our office is just one of many out there that has seen real and positive results in building a good business, starting with its employees.
We would also like to announce that we are currently accepting new patients! Give us a call at 541-388-3588, or email us at elkridgechiropractic@gmail.com to book your first appointment with a member of our qualified team!
