Impact Practice Consultants: Recent Episodes
Sara Mays
We work with physicians who want to make their practices healthier. Healthier practices succeed. And the people that work in them prosper.
Growing your practice and harmonizing your left are not mutually exclusive. Recent studies illuminate the possibility of harboring a growth mindset in certain aspects of life while maintaining a fixed mindset in others.
From a healthier life to a healthier bank account, the new year is an opportunity to improve our personal and professional lives.
When there is no intention to manage a practice staff, there is higher employee turnover, patient complaints, and disappointing financial results. Are you ready to lead with intention?
As we move into the third quarter of the year, your results are a strong indicator of your year end results and provide you with a clear choice.
Behind every data point is a story of success or opportunity. What story is your first quarter performance indicators telling you?
Successful coaches and organizational leaders are focused on developing their players and employees. They understand that their role as a leader is to inspire individuals to the best version of themselves both individually and collectively.
Being intentional with your staff starts with the hiring process. Identifying personal characteristics that are important to you as a person will help you to define your values and hire staff that shares these values.
Building a growth-focused practice starts with creating an environment where your staff isn’t afraid to admit their mistakes.
There are probably many reasons why your inferior practice results do not align with your exceptional medical skills and most of them do not connect to your skills as a surgeon, but your skills as a leader.
The connection between the patient experience and staff experience is critical but rarely a part of medical training. A physician that is intentional with their communication with their staff understands the connection.
An investor’s mindsets requires that you place your money where you’d like to grow. If you think of your staff as only as expense and not as a component of your marketing strategy, it’s time to consider a change in basic assumptions.
Leaders that care about their staff’s wellbeing consistently produce higher profits than those leaders who focus only on results.
Identifying practice opportunities is as simple or complex as you make it. Will you deny opportunities exists or choose discipline to move your practice forward?
Your internal reputation determines who applies for open positions in your practice. The best employees have a desire to work with leaders that are kind and inspirational. Are you known as the engaging Dr. or the one never acknowledges the security guard or OR tech? Successful results starts with intentional actions.
I’ve found, and my clients confirm, that by focusing on the measurable areas of a practice rather than hypothetical events will result in positive actions and more sleep.
As we wind down the first quarter of 2022, we continue to explore ways to strengthen your practice.
Over the last two years we’ve seen employees leaving employers not because of compensation but because they want to be valued and provided with opportunities for growth.
Cultures are built through intention or by chance. Developing a culture that appreciates employees and patients requires intentional actions.
To drive accountability, leaders must be committed to a consistent focus on responsibilities and goals including their own.
Regardless of the size of your practice you have a culture. Cultures may be built or occur by happenstance. To evaluate your culture, consider the measurables-your bottom line, tardiness, absenteeism, and staff performance.
The most common reason that we identify for a lack of practice growth is communication. If you’re wondering why your practice isn’t growing, consider what you’re doing as the practice leader to move your practice forward.
A practice leader that engages their staff and shows empathy for their staff is providing an example for how their staff should treat their patients. The employee experience becomes the patient experience. Making a consistent effort to engage your staff must be a forethought not an afterthought.
How often are you meeting with your billing person or company? Monthly meetings help to identify areas of improvement and will ensure you are on track to achieve your financial goals.
Utilizing mistakes as a growth opportunity requires that when a mistake is made, questions are asked instead of assumptions being made.
Communication is the foundation of an infrastructure and drives accountability, Respect and Empowerment - CARE. Caring for your staff will ensure they care for you, your patients and your practice results will be positively impacted.
The answer is communication. A commitment to staff communication is the single most important action that a leader can take to move their practice forward.
I follow many physicians on social media who share multiple posts about medicine, their practice and their lives and yet when I look at their online reputation, many indicate a lack of management.
In a teamwork focused environment each person understands and cares about the impact of their actions and inactions on their peers. We encourage our clients to engage candidates to share their teamwork experiences during the interview process so they are hiring “We” employees.
What’s the delta between current results and practice potential? And what’s the potential of your staff? The two are clearly connected. Helping your staff achieve their potential will help your practice move closer to it’s potential.
Putting action behind your expectations requires committing time to your staff to review goals, values, responsibilities and key performance indicators. Less communication equates to more frustration. Are you ready to improve your practice results?
A leader’s reputation within their practice must be positive before their external reputation can be enhanced. According to Brightlocal, 89% of consumers check reviews so incorporating a proactive process to manage reviews is key.
Intention and infrastructure are the building blocks of growing a practice and must be solidified before your practice can innovate.
Morbidity & Mortality conferences are utilized to change behaviors and prevent mistakes. Our clients utilize a similar strategy to improve and grow their practices, it’s called Weekly Learnings.
Recently we’ve discussed the importance of being intentional with your actions. This week we are looking at inaction which I define as complacency and the impact on staff morale and practice results.
Consider that most physicians are intentional in how they’ve managed their lives through Med school. Once they started practicing, their intentions were focused on a productive schedule, an operational structure and perhaps research. All are appropriate focuses but an equally important area of a practice is the practice staff.
Inspiring your staff to utilize KPIs to drive practice growth begins with a weekly review. Collaborating with your staff and encouraging them to share ideas drives ownership and ultimately results.
To obtain the full value of your KPI’s the tracking and communication of the data must be consistent. Tracking should align with staff responsibilities and should be the ultimate responsibility of your practice manager.
Key performance indicators are a component of a strong practice infrastructure. Knowledge is power and providing your staff with key performance indicators will strengthen your staff and practice.
As a physician you are quite familiar with the value of systems and processes. The processes that are followed ensure clarity of responsibilities and drive accurate diagnoses and outcomes.
Your staff and financial results are typically moving in the same direction so assessing both is key to improving your practice.
If you’d like to grow your practice, you must perform an honest assessment of the key areas of your practice. This includes a thorough analysis of your financials and your staff’s performance.
How your story is written is up to you. Commitment to grow your practice requires a level of dedication to yourself, your staff, your patients and to growth strategies that will change how your story continues.
Every practice has key performance indicators that connect to financial results. It’s up to you to read your data and to recognize and respond to the story that it is telling you before the book is closed on your financials.
We are almost at the six month mark of 2021. How are your practice results? Will you finish 2021 strong?
The partners that you select to support your practice should be dedicated to helping you achieve your goals.
Maintaining your high standards has driven your success as a surgeon and can drive the success of your practice.
Intense management of details in the OR drives healthy outcomes, but this level of control in running a practice can create an unhealthy situation for the physician and their staff.
Whether you are walking into an exam room or a staff meeting, there is something to be learned from the person or people in the room.
In this week’s practice tip, we look at the importance of providing your staff with a safe environment to share ideas, admit mistakes and grow. When your staff grows, your practice grows.
72% of patients check online reviews before booking an appointment with a new physician. If you’re ready to enhance your online reputation and your practice, implement these steps.
Medicine requires a growth mindset but recent research shows that you may have a different mindset for different areas of your life. Do you have a fixed mindset when it comes to being the CEO of your practice?
Enhancing your referral network doesn’t have to take more time or money. In this week’s practice tip we share how to strengthen your network organically.
The first quarter of 2021 is behind us so it’s time to assess your practice. Strong results begin with a strong infrastructure focused on the patient and employee experience.
A leader’s interactions have a ripple effect. Collaborative and compassionate interactions with your staff positively impact your patients and practice results.
Conversations with your staff, analysis of revenue drivers are key to an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan for your practice.
Regardless of the size of your staff, consistent communication is required to move your practice forward.
Growing your practice requires an investment of time with your staff. If you’re ready to enhance your practice results, start here.
When you look in the mirror, you see a gifted physician but your practice results tell a different story.