The addition of a digital radiography system into a practice may require a change in the way you manage your staff because teleradiology applications and support contracts require Internet access to hospital computers. Many vets, however, fear that allowing staff access to the Internet will result in slacking off and surfing the web during work hours.
In the past, many veterinarians addressed Internet use in the practice by locking down the internet and limiting internet access in the practice. Unfortunately, limiting Internet access to only one or two computers is just as limiting to your practice as is staff productivity if they surf the web all day long. For better or worse, Internet access in the practice is no longer optional.
Defining the problem
Nothing will cause a veterinarian or practice manager to hit the roof faster than catching staff connecting with their friends on Facebook or texting their friends during business hours. Before you melt down, consider this… unless you run a sweatshop no staff member has ever given you 8 hours of uninterrupted work. There is always water cooler time and staff have always used the phone to contact the outside world.
Would it seem reasonable for you to say to your staff “ under no circumstances will you be able to contact the outside world during the workday. I don’t care if your kid is dying in a car wreck, the private investigator chasing down your husband just busted him in bed with another man, or your kid just got in a fight with a skinhead school. In fact, I am going to rip out all of the telephones in the practice and the only place you can all anyone is from my office and I will be recording your calls” Of course you would never say that but that is exactly what you are saying when you deny internet and texting during the workday.
As employers we must understand that younger staff members do not communicate using the phone. Whether we agree with it or not, it is not our job to decide for our staff how they communicate with the outside world. If they want to text, giving them a telephone is no different than telling them to send smoke signals. Rather, worrying about how they communicate, we should become effective managers so Internet use does not become excessive.
The fallacy of locking down your practice
Let me let you in on a little secret. Your staff has the entire Internet in their pocket. Limiting internet access does nothing to stop an employee from getting online. Their iPhone is all they need. Most “kids” also know how to get around whatever stops you put in place. Search online for about 7 seconds and you will learn all of the ways that your staff can get around whatever blocks you put in place. Ill save you the effort – just click this link: http://boingboing.net/censorroute.html
“Bastards” you say. “Bastards and their proxy servers. Ill show them. Ill hire an IT team and beat them at their own game. I am going to lock down my practice so tight those little bastards wont be able to get to Google much less Scam School.”
Hold it! Does this make any sense? You are going to get in a pissing match with your staff. Is that worth the money, time, and effort? Can you guarantee a return on your investment in an IT company to block Internet sites. Will this translate into productive staff time or will they just turn to their iPhone. In my opinionm it is not worth the time or money to lock down the Internet at your practice.
The virus excuse is so 1999
One reasons veterinarians often give for locking down their internet is that they are worried about viruses attacking their hospital network. This is a reasonable fear but ONLY if you do not have an IT person who appropriately set up and secured your hospital network. You need to secure your hospital network and if you don’t hire a professional to do this for you, you run a risk whether or not you let your staff go on Youtube or Facebook*.
Locking down your practice hurts you and not them: The world is online. Information is going into the cloud. Locking down your internet to prevent your staff from communicating with the outside world will only hurt your practice as your practice will need to be connected to function in the modern world of veterinary medicine for example:
- Lab and teleradiology reports are now delivered directly back into the patient record. Your staff may need to go online to reconcile reports
- Teleradiology requests are usually made through an online interface so your staff will need to get online to enter requests so you can get your radiology reports back in a timely manner.
- In the near future, your practice management software might talk directly with your referral hospital to facilitate patient referrals (I know of one vendor working on this)
- You or your staff will likely need to go online to access images from your referral hospital as many clinics are now using remote archives and cloud based systems to distribute images rather than CD’s.
- Soon, your PACS system may even live in the cloud and your staff will need to access your images on a remote server to distribute them around your hospital.
- Lets not also forget the main use of the Internet, which is information exchange and distribution. Your staff should be able to go online and get medical information at any time. Your staff and vets do have VIN memberships don’t they?
- Most digital radiography vendors require internet access to you acquisition station as part of your support contract. This will allow them to log in and troubleshoot any computer issues.
Those are only a few examples that demonstrate that your staff needs to have access to the internet to perform their job adequately.
Ok. I get it but what happens if Internet use becomes excessive?
There will always be staff that break the rules. The way I see it “internet abuse” is no different than excessive talking on the phone. Staff will push the envelope and, as a manager, it is your job to set limits and make sure they are enforced. Locking things down is not enforcement. It is a cop out. That type of management style is like putting your finger in a leaky dam. Plug one hole and more will appear. You need a new dam.
Set your expectations with your staff. Give them one get out of jail free card. If they do it again they joint the ranks of the unemployed. If you cannot do this in your practice you have larger issues. Hire a good practice manager and stop worrying about your staff looking at Facebook for 2 minutes a day.
This advice is also recommended by the veterinary practice management consultant community. Dr. Mark Crootoff of Crootof Veterinary Consulting reccommends , "staff will follow hospital polices when clearly described (and enforced) in the hospital's employee manual. The hire of quality individuals will insure adherence to hospital policy. Trust in your staff completely and if you feel you cannot, then it might be time to re-evaluate your hiring policies and replace the old with the new."
Bottom line: In this day and age you need to have open Internet at your practice. Hire an IT person to secure your practice from viruses and learn to be a better manager to prevent “internet abuse” by your staff. Locking down the interent is not the answer.
*and just in case you do try to do this yourself, please do use antivirus software. Spend a few bucks and get NOD32
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