COMMUNICATIONS
By Nobby Lewandowski, CPA, Motivational Speaker
An Annual Checkup for Your Practice
Many chief executives undergo physical examinations on an annual basis. Indeed, some companies with key-person insurance require their top brass to do so.
On the other hand, many people go through life waiting until something does not feel right before submitting to a thorough examination. After a person has the checkup, he or she either gets a clean bill of health or finds what should be done to lose weight, control blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and cope with other maladies of aging and a stressful society. The next step is to take any necessary corrective action.
As owners of medical practices, we just keep plodding along until one day, if things go as planned, we are lucky enough to be bought out or retire. Finally, we get our just due for years of work-related agony and ecstasy. This is the preferred scenario, but one that is by no means guaranteed. Just ask the folks at United Airlines, Delphi, Enron, and many other large and small companies.
As with our bodies, businesses encounter inevitable life changes that alter plans. A practice may grow too rapidly and add overhead (a la human weight gain), face constant and often wrenching changes (psychological and physical stress), and be buffeted by a crosscurrent of conflicting pressures (balancing business and family life). Moreover, these health issues may emerge only after it is too late. Just as some of the most devastating afflictions that plague people are silent killers missed by routine physical tests, one cannot always discern the inner health of a business by looking at the surface indicators of revenue and profits. Deep within the company’s infrastructure, factors may be at work that will prove to be harmful, if not deadly.
In the vast majority of practices, the day-to-day operations of attracting and serving patients take up the bulk of the time and receive the most attention. The upshot is that not nearly enough consideration is given to the ostensibly less pressing strategic issues essential to maintaining and perpetuating a practice into the indefinite future. The practice equivalent of an iceberg may be ahead, but the ships captain sees-or only chooses to see the visible portion.
By comparison, the best practices plan for the future and emphasize performance planning. To illustrate, top executives at General Electric-Fortune magazine’s “Most Admired” company for 2006 spend a great deal of their time on developing and evaluating people-and pruning those that do not measure up. General Electric is the best management company in the world and has long been “the” institution that other major companies look to when they want to recruit executive leadership talent.
A business physical can expose issues under the surface. The business owner may be astonished, puzzled, and annoyed to hear the news-unless, of course, their practice routinely conducts 360-degree reviews that include the Physicians owners. CEOs tend to be told what employees think they want to hear and are often not used to undergoing subordinate reviews, which is precisely why the feedback from a “business physical” can be such a valuable eye-opener. Not surprisingly, the main complaint against upper management is almost always some variation of inadequate communications.
Have we ever had an owner become so discouraged or outraged that he or she truncated the process after hearing the criticisms? Not yet, but it could occur with a thin-skinned, insecure individual. The best insurance is to forewarn top management that the staff comments can be biting as well as constructive. Staff comments should never be requested without a sincere interest to better understand the practice from their perspective. We have conducted many of these physicals and the results have been very well received by the physicians.
The key to benefiting from the feedback is to know when to take heed and when to dismiss observations as “sour grapes.”
A “business physical” is not a time-consuming exercise to be taken lightly. It can and should be a priority. Hiring and retaining qualified staff is crucial in an information age in which the most important assets of the practice walk in the door at the beginning of the business day and stroll out at its conclusion.
Today’s employees want to have a say in goal setting and performance planning. They want to feel part of the management team. The “business physical” offers them the opportunity to provide insights and see appropriate changes. made. The process lets them know that the owners sincerely care about their opinions, concerns and observations. A “business physical” does more to demonstrate that management truly wants staff input then all of the “My door is always open” proclamations combined. However, the main benefits accrue to top management, who need access to the unvarnished views of the people who are closest to the patient.
An annual checkup for yourself can help you to be around for retirement. An exam for your practice can put you on the road to having enough financial wherewithals to enjoy it.
MEDICAL PRACTICE PHYSICAL
- What are the most significant strengths of the Practice?
- What are the areas in which improvements should be made?
- How can internal and external communication can be improved?
- What is the current effectiveness of the Practice leadership?
- Does the management team works well together?
- How effectively do you feel the Practice competes in the marketplace?
- What are the top issues the Practice should address?
- Are there any concerns which contribute to dissension within the Practice?
- What are the three operational issues the Practice should address immediately?
- What are the three major strategic challenges facing the Practice and Profession?
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