With all of the responsibilities and demands that office staff face on a daily basis (e.g., unhappy patients to cope with, incessant calls to answer, and insurers to battle), keeping staff motivated can often prove a daunting challenge. As a practice administrator or office manager, "you're working in some of the most intense environments that there are," says Jody Urquhart, a motivational speaker and author who gave the keynote address during the PAHCOM national conference in Florida this past fall. Staff must deal with not only their own concerns, but also the individual concerns of their patients, says Urquhart, who writes the syndicated column "Joy of Work," which is published in more than 65 magazines and journals.

Editor's note: This is the second story in a two-part series about the flu season. Last month, we looked at ways to prepare your practice for the flu season. Every year up to 20% of the population is infected with the influenza virus (flu). Of those, 200,000 are hospitalized due to complications and 36,000 die, according to the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is why it's important for your practice to keep your patients educated about flu vaccines and preventive measures to stem the spread of disease, says Terri Rebmann, associate director for curricular affairs and assistant professor at the Institute for Biosecurity of Saint Louis University's School of Public Health in St. Louis.

Starting in May 2007, all covered healthcare providers must begin using their National Provider Identifiers (NPI) to identify themselves in all standard transactions with all of the health plans with which they work. That means physician practices must overcome many daunting challenges to ensure that the transition runs smoothly. These challenges include everything from making sure that your practice's internal systems accommodate the new NPIs to coordinating with vendors about their readiness.