Human Resources and Office Management
Core concepts
HR in a physician practice covers the full employee life cycle: job descriptions, recruitment, credentialing and privileging, onboarding, scheduling, payroll, performance management, progressive discipline, and termination. Legal literacy is essential - FLSA exempt versus non-exempt classification, overtime, and independent-contractor risk; FMLA leave rights; ADA accommodation and the interactive process; workers' compensation; OSHA workplace safety; and anti-harassment obligations. Office management adds patient-flow design, scheduling templates, supply and inventory control, vendor and facility contracts, and emergency preparedness planning. Candidates should know that credentialing verifies licensure, education, training, and malpractice history, whereas privileging is the facility's authorization to perform specific procedures - these are frequently swapped in distractors.
Traps
- Salary alone does not make an employee exempt. FLSA requires both a salary basis and a duties test.
- FMLA eligibility is a three-part test: 12 months of employment, 1,250 hours worked in the prior 12 months, and a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles.
- Skipping the interactive process under the ADA; the employer must engage, not unilaterally decide.
- Documentation gaps. Discipline written weeks later, or performance issues never recorded, undermines any termination decision.
- Mixing protected information (medical, workers' comp, immigration) into the general personnel file.
Rule of thumb
Document coaching and discipline contemporaneously - within 24 to 48 hours - with facts, dates, and expectations for improvement. A clean, timely record is the practice's best defense.