While medical practices are understandably focused on financial survival, keeping up employee morale amid the fear and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 is equally important, practice leaders say. And the keys to that are ensuring that employees feel safe and valued, and above all, building trust through regular communication.

“We’ve been communicating, communicating, communicating (since the start of the pandemic),” says Susan Coker, practice administrator of Tri County Internal Medicine in suburban Atlanta. That communication takes the form of daily huddles that she conducts with front-office staff and that the medical director conducts with the practitioners. They use the huddles to discuss everything from upcoming reductions in hours to the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.