fbpx

physician morale

Cost-cutting: pick your battles wisely

We recently worked with a smart, energetic practice administrator who was very motivated to improve his practice’s bottom line. He’d already found significant savings by switching billing and phone services (even getting better billing results, to boot). Spurred on by those successes, he’d turned his attention to clinic staffing. While the physicians in his practice mostly used conventional medical assistants (MA) for support, a few of the doctors and non-physician providers (NPPs) had opted to use “scribe assistants.” These hybrid staff help clinicians by both scribing during the visit and handling typical MA tasks like test orders and scheduling follow-up care. Because of the extra duties, and because they were hired through an agency, their hourly cost was a bit higher than for the MAs – a 15-20% differential that caught the administrator’s attention. The administrator estimated the hourly cost of hiring a new MA would be about $20, including taxes and benefits. The scribe assistants, meanwhile, cost the practice about $24 per hour. The scribes did some tasks the MAs weren’t trained or expected to do – notably, scribing. But the administrator believed that at least one of the NPPs who was currently using a scribe assistant could do just fine with an MA (she was a recent grad and tech enthusiast). So the administrator decided to suggest gradually switching some of the contracted scribes with employed MAs – and was surprised that his idea met with resistance. (After all, 18% would be a significant cost savings – yet even some of the partners resisted the idea!) As the administrator repeated his idea at a few monthly meetings in a row, the resistance grew into a testier conflict. Was the conflict a sign the administrator was wrong to bring up the idea of saving money on clinical staff? We wouldn’t say “wrong” per se – but we might have not have prioritized this particular cost-saving avenue. It’s natural for clinicians to be wary of any changes to clinic staffing. Clinical support staff is essential to physicians’ productivity. Anything that disrupts clinic flow can make it harder for physicians to

By |2022-01-01T22:51:45-08:00October 15th, 2018|

How to work with hospitals and systems without losing yourself [Power Up Webinar Series]

Hospitals are acquiring or partnering with medical practices at break-neck speed and for good reason. It makes sense to align with physicians in a changing marketplace. It will strengthen the hospital’s position for both bargaining power and marketing their brand.   Physicians on the other hand, fear the unknown and are often uncertain about the strategies they should take to protect or improve their future. If you are approached about the possibility of joining forces with a hospital do you know what you would do? Here are some things for you to think about. The first step in consider partnering with a hospital is to clarify the opportunity by gathering information. Examine your own motivations. What is it you hope to gain and is it realistic?   At the same time, it’s important to understand the hospital’s agenda and determine if, in fact, their motivations are clearly aligned with yours. Remember all successful relationships are built on trust. You can avoid a head-on collision if you ask the difficult questions and get honest answers upfront. At the same time, you must we willing to be open in your communication by discussing what you want and hope to gain, and what concerns you may have. Whether it’s about their motivations, their leaders or how they want to structure the contract. If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t going to work unless you resolve the issues that make you uncomfortable with the deal. It is only through honoring your differences and negotiating in earnest that you can work toward common goals that align motivations and lead to success.   In order to share your future you must develop trust and common goals, and build a vision that everyone stands behind. Check out my free mini-webinar on working with hospitals and systems without losing yourself, presented by the AOA -- part of the Power Up series.

By |2022-01-01T22:52:03-08:00November 10th, 2014|

Authentic strategic planning for your medical practice

Medical practices are taking note of the importance of strategic planning, as they tread the unknown waters of healthcare reform and adapt to changes they may not have invited if given a choice. But do the key stakeholders of most private medical practices really understand what it takes to succeed with efforts to create and successfully execute a strategic plan? Do they know the importance of developing an authentic and that in order to be authentic it must be driven by the practice mission? If the strategic plan is not authentic in consistently delivering on the mission it is likely to fail.  But if it is authentic, it will guide the practice in achieving its strategic goals. Start on your path to strategic success by keeping these essentials in mind while going through the strategic planning process. Begin the strategic planning process by making sure the plan encompasses what the practice is all about and what it represents to the community. This means the goals and the decisions outlined in the strategic plan must be aligned with the practice’s mission and vision.  It is important to articulate the significance of this from the onset and revisit it as you go through the many processes of strategic brainstorming, goal-setting and formulating the written plan. This helps ensure that the decisions and actions identified in the strategic plan are authentic to your very purpose in being a medical practice. Next, identify what differentiates your practice from its competition. It is critical to examine market data to understand external factors that may impact the practice now and in the future. It is also critical to take an objective look at the practices strengths and weaknesses, exploring what opportunities this presents and what obstacles must be overcome.  Sometimes, this is referred to as a "SWOT" analysis, for "strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats."  These analytical steps help the practice address issues it must contend with and make appropriate strategic decisions based on the reality of your market position. Practice-wide engagement is needed to succeed with implementing a strategic plan.  This means communicating your strategic goals

By |2022-01-01T22:52:08-08:00April 22nd, 2014|

Lessons and reminders from the Yahoo! work-at-home flap

Practice managers and physician owners might look at the media attention focused on Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer's decision to end work-from-home at her company and think, well, that doesn't apply to me.  And it's true, with only a few exceptions (say, billing), medical practice staff members are unlikely to be able to do their work from home -- not just because they need to be where the patients are, but also because of the privacy risks of bringing documents out of the office. That doesn't mean, though, that the controversy and discussion that Mayer's decision engendered (and now Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly's as well)  are completely irrelevant to physician practices.  Because even though working at home is an option that won't often make sense for medical office staff, the media frenzy about one company's HR decision does illustrate how challenging it can be to make management changes without unintended consequences, even when the need for the change seems obvious. Change sparks fear One of the theories that immediately emerged about the Yahoo! telecommuting ban was that Mayer was simply implementing "backdoor layoffs" -- i.e., that she'd determined that forcing everyone into the office would be an easy way to encourage telecommuters to quit to achieve needed cost reductions.  Naturally, this theory provokes fear in all staff -- what if there aren't enough quitters to bring costs down, and my job ends up on the chopping block? There are mixed reports of how the end of telecommuting is actually playing with Yahoo! employees -- despite the ongoing outrage of bloggers, there are also reports that many current Yahoos understand the need for and actually support the change.  But, certainly the situation is a good reminder about how important it is to communicate effectively with employees, to help prevent unnecessary fears from taking hold -- otherwise, you risk losing  your most valued employees, who will begin job hunting in earnest when they sense trouble.  (I have seen changes as small as eliminating free coffee to save a few bucks lead to swirling rumors that bankruptcy is imminent!  When communication is missing,

By |2022-01-01T22:52:33-08:00March 9th, 2013|
Go to Top