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New Year's Resolutions...
Make your practice management
vision a reality

The new year is a unique opportunity to enhance your practice, because it is the one time of year when employees are somewhat more open to trying new things. Take a long hard look at your practice, identify what's going right and what's going wrong, and then make the changes that will help you reach your goals. Now is the time to seize opportunity!

To capitalize on this pivotal time of year and move closer to the ultimate vision you have for your practice, consider this 4-step "I. S.E.E." method to make effective changes in your organization: Identify, Solve, Entrust, Evaluate...

"I" -- Identify Problems & Opportunities

The first step toward making positive changes in your practice is to understand the key problems hindering your growth. Perhaps your no-show rate is too high or you're not getting enough referrals. Then identify opportunities that you can capitalize on: if a strength of your practice is your relationships with referring physicians, leveraging these strengths to their ultimate advantage will also be an important part of your growth plan.

As you start identifying the key problems and opportunities affecting your growth, start with your impressions. What changes would you like to see? Your practice may be growing, but is it growing in the direction you want it to.

Then bring together reliable numbers or other objective indicators to determine where your business stands. One source of great information is AppointmentsPRO. Click the Reports menu…browse though the selections…and conduct your own brainstorming session as you view the various statistics affecting your practice:

At this point, you will likely have a list of several key problems and opportunities that you would like to address in the coming year.

"S" -- Solve the Problems,
Seize the Opportunities

Now it's time to come up with a list of actions. If one of the problems you identified is that you are not getting enough new patients from a neighboring zip code, then you need to come up with a solution – such as contacting referring physicians in that area. If one of the opportunities you listed is your success at working with seniors, you need to capitalize on that opportunity – perhaps with a mailing to the appropriate specialists in your community.

"E" -- Entrust Your Coworkers

Once you come up with your action list, you will quickly realize that you can't do it all yourself. Now you need to sit down with the staff, explain the thinking behind this action list, and help your employees to step up and take ownership of these tasks. Explain that by accepting a given responsibility, each member of the team will help improve the work atmosphere, increase professionalism, boost career opportunities and ensure job security.

Take the time necessary to communicate your objectives properly. Then LISTEN. Let your people share their concerns or suggestions and adjust your action list accordingly to achive your ultimate objectives.

Whenever possible, the best way to encourage employees to take ownership of their responsibilitiues is to institute an incentive program. This can involve a bonus, but often an office pizza party, or modest gift is just as effective.

"E" -- Evaluate

Finally, schedule time in advance to regularly review staff performance, ensuring that each action task is being completed and the desired results are in sight. Take time at this meeting to talk through how things are going. This not only allows each staff member to describe any problems and suggest improvements, it also gives you a chance to reinforce to everyone that the program is working and goals are being met.

Let us know how you’re doing and if this article was helpful by emailing PMN at newsletter@ssoft.com.