Right now, more than ever, it is time to take a real hard look at the foundations upon which you have built your practice, and your future. Sure, you're well aware, that if any key components of practice are on shaky ground, it will be sooner rather than later that you are liable to find out the hard way.
In any event, let's take a look at some key, but too often overlooked daily issues one by one. Let's start with staffing. Likely, your staff is having a more challenging time during the sheer volume of change taking place in the outside world than you are. If you are not regularly engaged with them in intelligent discussion and leadership, and being completely supportive, you are missing an enormous opportunity in long-term practice growth strategy right now.
Have you taken the time, to have open discussions about how you can better work together as a team, to accomplish common goals? Does every staff member understand how their decisions during the day not only impact your future as the practice owner but the future of themselves? Have you also taken every step with your team members to be not only realistic about meeting patients needs but to also explain and show how their actions throughout the day fully impact the other team members?
For example, in any business, it is critically important that new inquiries regarding the business be handled in the most appropriate manner. This includes of course includes moving potential new clients up the ladder from simply being interested parties to someone who is automatically scheduled as a potential new patient. This is also a major stumbling block in most small businesses, and the private practice of healthcare is no exception. You must be certain there is a mechanism in place to track these inquiries and how many of them you actually convert to active patients.
To really capitalize on this too frequently missed opportunity, start by making sure all your staff are vested with the authority to reach out to these potential new patients. You can empower them with effective, modern literature, personalized phone calls, references from your satisfied patients, web sites you have created.
And doctor, be sure to thank them and reward them for their efforts. By now, you should see where I'm going here. If it's been a very long time since you have looked at your practice this way, quite simply, you are leaving hundreds if not thousands of dollars every week for your competitors.
And right now, I guarantee if you are not engaged in this intense and regular inspection and training, you are fully feeling the economic effects of it.
One critical factor, which seems to elude far too many doctors today is that the speed with which changes in society occur is accompanied by new ways in which people expect to be treated, and their concerns handled. Only the best customer service departments in any business get this. In fact, if you are using the same strategies you were using nine months ago, very likely you are experiencing inferior results.
For example, have you gone out of your way to institute to new mechanisms and systems to make doing business with you more efficient, more pleasurable, easier to justify to a spouse or loved one? Have you expanded, rather than contracted in your menu of services? Is every spare moment of time spent fine-tuning the new systems and procedures? Have you reviewed your entire marketing calendar and identified the missing pieces both internally and externally that will put your practice and your future on solid ground?
In any event doctor, like it or not, these are the harsh realities of private practice today. Only you can judge for yourself whether or not to are up to the task. Never forget, that the happiest people in practice and indeed any worthwhile endeavor are not engaged in "paying the price", but rather as Zig Ziglar says, enjoying the price, living fulfilled lives and really enjoying the rewards. It's just that in the world we live in right now, the impact of your daily decisions and actions is multiplied tenfold over what it was just a short time ago.
Dr. John Hayes Jr, is president of Perfect Practice Web, and has 26 years experience in multidisciplinary and chiropractic practice management. He may be reached through http://www.perfectpracticeweb.com or email @ info@perfectpracticeweb.com
He welcomes your consulting, publishing and speaking inquiries at 781-659-7989. He is also the author of Living and Practicing by Design, published by outskirts Press, and a 2008 Evvy Award Nominee. You can see more at http://amazon.com
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