The Situation

Due to COVID-19, many private practices have had to switch to telemedicine and rethink their operations, including how they resource their businesses. 

Managing partner Dr. Rupa Wong notes that engaging liquid workers, such as freelancers, has been less commonly done in medicine. “I think the pandemic has caused us to revisit and look at aspects, like telemedicine, and how we can move as much as possible virtually.” Due to the pandemic, Honolulu Eye Clinic had to purposefully reduce their patient volume in order to maintain strict social distancing. That led Rupa to “decrease their employee numbers and really think outside of the box in terms of virtual employees.”

In addition, while virtual medicine and telehealth visits, at times, allowed the Honolulu Eye Clinic to see more patients, it also created some technical challenges and required some operational changes.

Rupa’s practice needed operational support so the ophthalmology team could focus on patients, not paperwork tasks. For example, they could outsource many administrative tasks to a virtual assistant. In addition, using a remote medical assistant also increased some efficiencies. Rupa shared, “You know as healthcare professionals, there’s so much that we do daily that you don’t really think about but it’s actually just admin work and it doesn’t need a body in the clinic to be able to do it, from answering phones to going through faxes to sending letters and more.”

However, Rupa and her husband and Honolulu Eye Clinic Partner, Dr. Jeff Wong, initially had some concerns before engaging the liquid workforce, particularly since hiring virtual or remote workers was not done very commonly in medicine prior to the pandemic.

Rupa shares, “Finding someone you trust is probably the biggest hurdle to get over.” Her tip for ensuring trust when hiring freelancers is to “do background checks and listen to your gut in terms of when it seems to be working out or when you feel like there are some red flags.”

Additionally, the team wasn’t familiar with the rules and regulations they needed to comply with to engage freelancers and independent contractors.

Simple virtual workforce management

To manage the clinic’s new liquid workforce, Rupa turned to Liquid to provide the turnkey support she needed — from contract management to invoicing to payments.

For Rupa, using Liquid means that she doesn’t have to worry about the legal aspects of maintaining compliance with the practice’s 1099 employees. She says, “Knowing nothing about the compliance risks associated with working with freelancers and contractors, Liquid makes me feel confident that my contracts are compliant and helps me make sure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed.”

Liquid has made managing the liquid workforce effortless for the Honolulu Eye Clinic. Outsourcing has enabled the clinic to streamline work and meet the needs of their patient population in a more creative manner.

Rupa recommends Liquid for other private practices considering engaging liquid workers. “If they want to ensure they are doing things properly and not run the risk of costly HR or tax mistakes, then Liquid is the platform for them. Liquid has made it seamless to contract and pay my remote contractors. Liquid helped me set it all up, and now I don’t have to think or worry about it. Set it and forget it.”