How To
Control Overtime Expenses
For a busy medical practice, some time-and-a-half work is generally
unavoidable. But minimizing the need for staff overtime is an achievable
goal if you focus on it.
Understanding the reasons for your overtime expense can often lead to better
control. For example, physicians may be extending their workdays to
accommodate growing patient volume. The result may be overtime for medical
assistants and staff who must also stay late. To avoid this expense, you
might stagger work schedules so that some employees start their days later
and, therefore, stay without overtime until office hours end.
Practical Strategies
Among the many possible strategies for controlling overtime are the
following:
Stay with the Schedule. Create a 40-hour work week and follow the
schedule by starting and ending each day on time. To facilitate this,
require that only today’s work be done today. Unless extraordinary
circumstances occur, no one should stay late to finish up work that can be
put off.
Use Job Sharing. When a position, such as receptionist, must be
staffed during an office schedule that exceeds 40 hours, you might split the
job between two part-time employees who will cover the required hours
without the need for overtime.
Don’t Let Overtime Be Automatic. Never allow overtime without your or
your practice manager’s express approval.
Don’t Allow Mixing Business with Lunch. Instead, require all lunch
time to be taken away from desks and phones, because doing any work during a
lunch break can recategorize the break as paid time.
Reexamine Workloads and Tools. Making adjustments or reassignments
might increase efficiency and save time. If scheduling and recordkeeping
tools are not well-suited to your practice’s current volume, upgrading your
office technology could free up staff time and reduce the need to stay late.
Please contact a member of our Health Care Team if you would like to discuss this topic further.
Health Care Commentaries is
provided by Somerset’s
Health Care Team
for our clients and other interested persons upon request. Since
technical information is presented in generalized fashion, no final
conclusion on these topics should be made without further review. For
additional information on the issues discussed, please contact a member
of our Health Care Team. This
document is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for
the purpose of avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed on the
taxpayer.
Somerset CPAs,
P.C.
3925 River Crossing Parkway, Third Floor
Indianapolis, Indiana 46240
317.472.2200 • 800.469.7206 • FAX 317.208.1200
http://healthcare.somersetcpas.com
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