The 90-Day Rule for Introducing New Tech to Your Staff | Leasa Horst, CPA

How do you get a busy front desk to accept new technology - without a revolt?

Leasa Horst, CPA, has been practice administrator at ESD Pediatric Group - a two-location Cincinnati practice caring for families for over 80 years - for more than 30 of them. She's led her team through paper-to-EHR, central phones, and most recently an AI receptionist (ESD Group is a Talkie.ai client). In this podcast, she shares the change-management playbook that makes it all stick.

We dig into:

🏥 Leasa's #1 tip for growing a practice - be open to change, lean on your peers, and genuinely value your people
📅 The 90-day rule - why day 30 is the hardest, and how the complaints fade by day 90
🤖 How the team actually adapted to "Jessica," their AI receptionist - and what made it click
📞 From two phone lines to one central number - and why going to an EHR made it possible
🛋️ "You don't make money in the waiting room" - how closing waiting rooms during COVID created 3 new exam rooms
☎️ Hiring for the front desk - why former bartenders and waitresses make some of her best hires
📖 The book that shaped her leadership: Crucial Conversations

Resources mentioned:

👤 Guest: Leasa Horst, CPA
🏥 ESD Pediatric Group: https://www.esdpeds.com/

🏢 Companies & Tools
athenahealth (their EHR)
Talkie.ai - AI medical receptionist (ESD uses Talkie on their front desk)

📚 Books
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High - Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey

🎥 See how Talkie.ai works - AI medical receptionist demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzBD7PorTsU&list=PLLjcCBHYN2KoBqm-Dx-8lIwWLuU-CHXSg