Monthly Archives: August 2023

I had an inspiring conversation with a young physician recently. He is looking forward to one day owning a practice. He envisions himself establishing a practice ethos that encourages colleagueship and respects physician excellence. “Expert culture,” he says, is the key to physician engagement and avoiding burnout. His passion was infectious. I can’t help be animated by the idea of brilliant doctors motivating each other to be even better! Moreover, like many of us in healthcare, I’m concerned about the rise in physician burnout, and I agree with this ambitious doctor that more respect for expertise could help alleviate it. But a question occurred to me as we were talking: What about applying the same thinking to the business side of medicine? The idea of setting a similar standard of professionalism for administration may not be intuitively obvious. It only makes sense that clinical expertise is king in our practices. Sometimes, though, even unintentionally, acknowledging this can translate into a more casual attitude about the administrative work being done to support the practice of medicine. This can mean that important business pillars of the practice are not as strong as they could be. This is not unique to medicine. It’s become a cliché that law firms, for example, often struggle with business management, despite being populated by brainy overachievers. Many fast-growing startups are created by smart people with an avid interest in a particular invention, technology, or service—and less interest in the daily nuts-and-bolts of management, which gets the short shrift. In all these examples, when management takes too much of a back seat, the financial success of the organization—and even the ability to achieve the core mission—may suffer. Adopting the same professional standards on the business side that you aim for on the clinical side can help avoid unnecessary costs. What’s more, it can encourage profitability and growth, building the value of your asset. It can also make your practice a much more pleasant place to work! So what are the hallmarks of a professional practice organization? Here are a few: Formalized, forward-thinking human resources policies Small businesses of