The Heartbeat of Every Practice
January 12th, 2011At the heart of every practice that Benchmark is fortunate enough to serve is quality patient care. I’m always working with our staff to be aware of the fact that we have to offer that same level of care on the business side of things to each of these doctors and practices. I enjoy working with perfectionist and it does tend to set the support bar high, that’s a good thing. I also get the fact that doctors and clinicians are 100% focused in taking care of their patients, that’s the calling and they/you have a deep seated drive to do that.
I also know that the heartbeat of every practice should be cash flow with proper accounting procedures and analysis. The difference in a private medical practice and most other privately owned businesses is; one owner focuses on fixing the patient and the other owner focuses on the profits. I’m actually quite comfortable with my doctor focusing on me, it should be that way. What bothers me is the fact that in most cases doctors don’t focus enough on the business side of things. Again, I get it; I understand why….but someone needs to.
So here is the dilemma. If the doctor doesn’t have the time to run the business, is someone with an MBA or at least a BBA hired to manage it? The answer is no, in at least 80% of the ambulatory practices in the U.S., because 80% of those practices in the U.S. are 5 doctors or less and can’t afford an MBA manager. Then ask yourself, could your existing staff run a division of a Fortune 500 company? If that sounds ridiculous to you, think again. They may need help running the business side of your practice. If you look at a 2010 MGMA survey on employee embezzlements, it’s a frightening read with frightening numbers. Then I think for a minute and I don’t have one close friend who is a medical doctor who hasn’t had this happen in his or her practice. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying your staff is dishonest, but this survey states, odds are someone will be someday if no one is closely watching. Too many patients, too little time, and not enough attention to the business side……….Not good!
Private practices are now back to the trend of being purchased by the hospitals and large healthcare delivery systems. When this occurs it does take away some of the business stress, but usually leads to a very angry parting of the ways a few years down the road simply because the goals of the doctor don’t match the goals of the hospital. You don’t have to be a mental giant to see that one coming…..….Not good again!
The not so obvious answer is leveraging management costs across multiple practices. Doctors keep doing what you/ they do best. Make a few tweaks to the clerical staff and rather than trying to afford a full time manager with the proper degree, experience and track record hire that profile with a partial FTE structure. Utilize the internet. Today that person doesn’t have to be sitting in your office every day. They are every bit as effective being wired in. Weekly management reviews with structured reports will give you total control and insight, probably better than you have now. You just raised the bar for your existing staff by having a high level employee in the ranks and most will step up to the challenge.
If anyone is interested let me know, I would be ecstatic to put you in touch with each other and even help structure an arrangement. I just want you to be paid extremely well just like the pilot in my next cross country flight. This is no place to be cutting corners for professional services or management. I want the privately owned medical practice to thrive, not become part of a big conglomerate.
Ernie Chastain