I’ve not been a big fan of my staff working from home over the years, but the recent events of COVID-19 have forced my staff & I to work from home. I can now see some advantages to myself & my staff to work from home. In a healthcare practice clinical staff will not be able to work from home unless they are only providing telehealth consultations. However, some of your other staff such your Practice Manager, Accounts staff, etc. can work part or even all their work week at home. Even though I think I will go to the office on an almost-daily basis when COVID-19 lockdown restrictions end, I find that when I work from home, I’m able to get a lot more accomplished.

As I research this for my small business as a possible option into the future, I find that there are a lot of reasons why it’s good for a business to let employees work from home & for healthcare practices to let the appropriate staff work from home part or even full time in some cases. Over the next few weeks, we will cover some of the best reasons I believe it is good for your clinic to let your employees work from home at least once a week. Here are the first 5 reasons:

1. Staff will waste less time commuting.
Cutting out a commute can be both a huge morale booster and a huge time saver. Employees will also waste less money on petrol, parking, or public transportation. This can also reduce staff stress levels when they get to work. Driving in heavy traffic to get to work or battling large crowds on public transport may increase staff stress levels & so they will not start the day with the best mindset hence reducing work productivity.

2. Staff will be more productive.
One study found that employees who work from home are 13 percent more productive compared with their in-office counterparts.

3. Staff will be happier.
Everyone is talking about work-life balance – your hear these comments every day, and there’s no better way to improve the work-life balance of your clinic employees than to let them work from home.

4. Technology has made it easier than ever.
You can be connected to the office every minute of every day if you want to, thanks to the Internet. The concept of working from home might have seemed out of the question 15 years ago, but this is 2020.

5. You can free up office space for another consulting room.
Some non-clinical staff working from home means you may have an office that is no longer required. You can then turn this office space into another consulting room which will make you money, not cost you money.