Competency assessment

As a practice manager, you know that recruiting the right staff with the right skills is crucial for your practice to run smoothly. Competency assessments assess the ability of an individual to perform a task to a desired level of competency and can be used when recruiting new staff and for long-term employees. It is not about whether your employee is able to do the task better than others, but whether they are competent to perform. To be competent, the employee must independently complete tasks that provide the assessor with evidence that the performance criteria of each element has been met.
The simplified process is:

When recruiting new staff you should ensure that they are competent in the skills and tasks they are being employed for. For practice staff, ongoing education is an integral component of their professional development and as a result, competency assessment is an ongoing process of continually building knowledge and skills.

For many professionals (doctors, nurses, allied health) they are required to participate in continuing professional development (CPD) so that they maintain their professional accreditation and registration. AHPRA - Registration Standards

While not mandatory, practice managers can also maintain their own professional development as part of the AAPM Certified Practice Manager program and AAPM Fellowship Program.

For other staff (reception, administrative), the competency assessment may form part of their performance appraisal process. Competencies that are reflective of the practice policies and procedures can be created and assessed throughout the year.

e.g.:

• Collecting, analysing and organising informationThe capacity to locate, sift and sort information in order to select what is required and to present it in a useful way, and evaluate both the information itself and the sources and methods used to collect it.
• Working with others in teamsThe capacity to interact effectively with other people both on a one-to-one basis and in groups, including understanding and responding to the needs of a patient and working effectively as a member of a team to achieve a shared goal.

Adopting a competency assessment system within your practice will encourage an environment of continual learning and acquisition of new skills. The competent/not competent forms of assessment enhance the philosophy of having staff able to perform particular tasks as opposed to a hierarchy system of who is the best at performing that task.

There is also an opportunity for practice staff to achieve competencies that will assist practices and give the staff member a qualification pathway. For example, sterilisation, CPR, infection control, certificate courses.