A Medical Practice holiday closure can be fraught with frustration and hurt feelings, but only if there is unclear policy and miscommunication. Everyone has personal requests around the holiday season, so it is important to prepare ahead of time.
Even though holidays are typically common knowledge, it is important to plan ahead as much as possible to ensure patients, team and all your medical partners are prepared. Then there must be effective communication with both team and patients.
What holidays are most US Medical Offices closed?
The typical days that US medical offices are closed are:
– New Years Day
– MLK Day
– Good Friday
– Memorial Day
– Independence Day
– Labor Day
– Thanksgiving (often for two days)
– Christmas Eve
– Christmas Day
Have an office policy for Holiday Closure
Typically, each medical office will observe holidays based upon the patient demographic, the preferences of the practice owner, and the needs of the employees.
An office policy around mandatory holidays, and days that will not be observed as holidays should be created and shared with all team members as they are hired. If special exclusions are needed due to religious holidays or other personal reasons, then team members will need to manage this with the practice owner individually.
This brings up the question of Holiday pay. Each category of employee (salaried, full-time hourly, part-time hourly, and probationary) should be clear of the medical office policy manual. It should detail how will staff be compensated if they actually work on a holiday.
It is also important to denote what happens when observed holidays fall on a non-work day. These holidays can be observed by closing the office the day before or the day after the holiday. The holidays can also go without observance if they fall on a weekend. It is really a matter of personal preference.
Some offices also like to close early the day before a holiday. For some holidays, it may make sense to close the office at noon the day before, as most patients will not request appointments at that time.
Additional time off around a holiday. Staff may want to take off additional time around some holidays. Your policy should address how that time will be remunerated, how many employees can be off at the same time, and if too many employees want the time off, how you will determine which time off requests are approved.
Communicating medical practice holiday closures to patients
Once the team is clear on the holiday closure dates and process, it is very important to communicate the what and when of the holidays to all patients.
Start sending out Medical Practice Holiday Closure notices at least a month before, and also schedule all events into the calendar so that patients are not booked on those days.
You can send them via email, posted mail, social media and also add the dates to the practice website. Also consider signage in the practice reception area, so that the patients visiting can see it. You can also add them to the Medical Practice Binder that patients can read.
The earlier you communicate it, the easier it is to make sure misunderstandings don’t happen.
In conclusion, all holidays should be a happy time for physicians, team and patients. Don’t let lack of forethought and poor communication diminish that. Be prepared for your Medical Practice Holiday Closure.
