We blog about things we learn in our work with practice owners and managers. We hope these articles help you.
Is there something you’d like us to write about? Let us know.
Cutting long-term staff to improve profitability? Not so fast [practice management tip: human resources]
A practice we worked with recently was struggling to improve profitability. The practice’s new manager wanted to make an impact fast, so she decided to try replacing longer-term staff with less expensive newbies; since staffing was such a big practice expense, she reasoned that this was the best way to
Resist the temptation to surveil your employees [practice management tip: human resources]
It’s easy to monitor your employees’ every move with modern technology. So should you? The temptation is understandable. The key question is: Are employees motivated to do a good job? Or does getting the most from them require constant oversight? Intuition might suggest the latter – but experience says otherwise.
Enter through the front door [practice management tip: patient service]
In a typical medical office layout, there’s a front door that’s used by patients and a rear door (or staff entrance) for employees. Of course, this can be quite convenient, especially when connected to employee parking. But an interesting consequence of this configuration is that physicians and managers never experience
Patient service is your competitive edge [practice management tip: patient service]
Independent primary care and specialty practices alike worry about increasing competition from hospitals and integrated systems. It’s not uncommon to see hyped-up headlines pronouncing independent practices “doomed” and the consolidation trend “inevitable.” But the naysayers always conveniently overlook a big advantage independent practices have versus larger organizations: the personal touch.
Consider rolling recruitment for key jobs [practice management tip: human resources]
Do you find yourself reluctant to discipline difficult employees because they’ll be hard to replace if they quit? Is that same fear causing you to retain employees who’ve failed to improve, despite being counseled again and again?When the consequences of poor performance never materialize, underperforming employees will soon perceive they’
Don’t confuse personal finance and business finance [practice management tip: financial management]
When presented with ideas to update your medical practice’s technology, better support your clinicians, or market your practice in a new way, is your go-to reaction “we don’t need that” or “we’re doing fine without it”? Is your financial management approach simply to always minimize expenses? (Perhaps because you remember