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| Dear Friend,
Are you ready for a cyber-attack?
That's the subject of this past Monday's blog post, Are You Sure You’re Insured For a Cyber-Attack? Follow that link to the blog, or keep reading for the entire post
Cyber-attacks. The news has been filled with reports of them.
Oil pipelines.
Meat processing plants.
And, closer to home, to the healthcare industry, that is, Scripps Health and, as learned the first week of June 2021, the UF Health Central Florida cyber-attack.
How prepared are you if, despite the prophylactic precautions taken by your in-house team, taken by your outside coding and billing provider, and by your EHR vendor, your defenses are breached?
In particular, how sure are you that you’re insured, as in cyber insured, in regard to the damages cause by the attack?
In general terms, cyber insurance covers costs associated with cyber-attacks and data breaches.
As you might expect, though, the devil’s in the details when it comes to insurance coverage in general, and nowhere is this more true than in connection with cyber coverage.
Varying policies and modifications to them by way of endorsement, at varying premium levels, can be had to address cyber-attack damages. To name but a few: notification of patients/customers, regulatory defense expenses, the payment of fines, the cost of repairing computer systems and of recovering lost data, crisis management expenses, the cost of forensic investigations, and even business interruption.
It’s essential you understand that, unfortunately, relying on your insurance broker alone won’t always solve your cyber insurance preparedness. Cyber insurance dovetails with your other coverages; particular policy language, both in proposed cyber insurance policies and in your existing coverages are often inter-dependent. No two policies are the same and price shopping is an ineffective strategy.
Whether you’re just starting to consider coverage or want to assess what you actually have, we should talk.
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| | | Business Life in the Time of Coronavirus Mini-Series
The coronavirus crisis caused a short term economic crisis for many medical groups. Our mini-series shows you the way out. Plus, many of the concepts discussed are applicable during both good times and bad.
[If you haven't already seen them, follow this link to watch our entire series.] |
| | Tuesday – A Partnership Agreement Is for More Than a Partnership – Success in Motion Watch Tuesday's video here, or just keep reading below for a revised, more polished transcript:
What's the purpose of a partnership agreement?
What's it really for? What's it for when, say, some colleagues are putting together a medical group or an entity for a surgery center?
Now, when I say "partnership agreement", I don't necessarily mean that it has to be a partnership agreement; it could be a shareholders agreement, or it could be an operating agreement in connection with an LLC.
What I’m talking about is a document that's being put together to govern the creation of a new entity, a new business entity.
Well, obviously, the document exists for the purpose of setting out the rules by which the entity comes together. And, certainly, also the rules by which the entity operates. For example, how the profits and compensation are going to be distributed.
But in reality, the agreement is for much more than that.
It's also to govern what happens if and when the business begins coming apart. To govern what happens if there are disruptive partners. To govern what happens upon death. To govern what happens upon the loss of a facility. To govern what happens in the event that other partners come on board. To govern what happens if you spin off part of the business, and so on and so on.
But many people just want to get it over and done with. They want to deal with what's happening on the way in. They don't give enough thought to what might be happening on the way out.
Without those provisions, you're left to the dangers of applicable state law, both statutory law and court opinions, which, I guarantee you, is probably not exactly what you had in mind.
Spend more time on the way in, so you spend less time and less money on the way out. |
| | How to Deploy the Secret Sauce of Opportunistic Strategy
Webinar On Demand
They say that COVID-19 has changed the world, creating the "new normal." Many of your colleagues and many hospital administrators are running scared.
Others, leaders like you, know that crisis means opportunity.
Let me provide you with the strategic tools and insights that you need in order to seize opportunities, whether they’re in the context of your current business relationships, the expansion of your business activities, or the creation of new ventures.
You will learn:
•Defense as a defective default: It’s necessary, but not sufficient.
•Exploiting weakness: Drop the guilt and identify opportunity.
•Flat line negotiation is fatal: Understand its myths and limitations.
•Negotiation reality: Learn to identify and deploy on multiple planes to affect the outcome.
•Maneuver: Harness the power of maneuver, both in overall strategy and in specific negotiation strategy.
Others see a crisis and freeze in fear. Learn how to see the opportunities and obtain the tools to increase your odds of obtaining them.
The price to attend is $479. The cost of not attending is astronomical. |
| | | Wednesday – State Board and Hospital Recommend Against Better Care at a Lower Cost to Consumers – Medical Group Minute
Watch the video here, or just keep reading below for a slightly polished transcript:
Chalk up a victory for less care at higher prices. Hey, aren’t those two of the Anti-Triple Aim?
Maine is a Certificate of Need (“CON”) state. Want to build a new ambulatory surgery center to provide better care than a hospital at lower prices to patients and payors? Well, in Maine and other CON states, it is not so easy. You need permission from the state and from your competitors, a so-called Certificate of Need.
Earlier this month, the state’s CON board recommended against approving an application submitted by Central Maine Healthcare to build a $14 million, 20,000 square foot ASC in Topsham, a town outside of Portland. In opposition was a competitor, Mid Coast Parkview Health, a health system that includes a hospital and an affiliated physician group.
Why the “no” vote, you might ask? Because, in the world of CONS, competition is bad. Somehow, in the rarified air of regulatory ridiculousness, reminiscent of the former USSR, top down is the way to keep prices low. Or, is it to keep prices up?
Let’s say that instead of being in the health care business, Central Maine and Mid Coast ran competing chains of supermarkets. Central Maine decides to build a new store across the street and down one block from Mid Coast’s Topsham market location. Once they open the new market, do you think that prices for potatoes and pickles are going to go up in Topsham or down?
Please don’t interpret this the wrong way if you are a public “servant”: I know that food is a bit more essential than healthcare, and I am not trying to plant the idea that you need to regulate whether someone can open a new supermarket.
CONs are simply a variant of “I’ve got mine, you can’t have yours.” They never served a useful purpose and they certainly don’t serve one now. In essence, they are a con on consumers.
Or, as an activist might put it: “How many people have to die before the CON system is put in the grave?” OK, it is a bit over the top . . . but you are free to use it.
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| | | Listen to the podcast here, or just keep reading for the transcript.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Japan’s 100 year old Sharp Corp. announced that it had doubts that it could remain as a going concern.
Sharp had invested heavily in building liquid crystal display manufacturing plants in order to compete with its South Korean rivals, only to have the market collapse.
Sharp’s president was quoted as saying, “We lacked a sense of speed. The situation could have been different if we took steps more quickly.”
That sense of speed and action is entirely consistent with the philosophy of Col. John Boyd, considered by many to be the greatest military strategist since Sun Tzu, and his OODA loop, OODA being Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act.
Boyd’s concept is that strategic advantage is gained by being able to process information and take action faster than one’s opponent. This is referred to as getting inside your opponent’s OODA loop.
Whether or not Sharp ever heard of the OODA loop, it’s abundantly clear that someone got inside of theirs.
There are two important lessons here for medical groups.
The first: A 100-year-old company, or an office-based practice that has always received referrals from a certain group of internists, or a hospital-based group that has held the exclusive contract for 50 years, are not necessarily guaranteed a satisfactory future.
The second: Strategy and tactics exist. You either use them to your benefit or someone else uses them on you.
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| | | Calibrate Your Compass
Read our exclusive RedPaper to guide you through this evolving situation.
The coronavirus crisis caused a short-term economic crisis for many medical groups. Our RedPaper shows you the way out. Plus, many of the concepts discussed are applicable during both good times and bad.
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| | Help Us Help You With Helpful Content
What tailored content would you most like to see during this
time? How can we focus on solutions to your most pressing strategic concerns?
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| | | | We all hear, and most of us say, that the pace of change in healthcare is quickening. That means that the pace of required decision-making is increasing, too. Unless, that is, you want to take the “default” route. That’s the one is which you let someone else make the decisions that impact you; you’re just along for the ride. Of course, playing a bit part in scripting your own future isn’t the smart route to stardom. But despite your own best intentions, perhaps it’s your medical group’s governance structure that’s holding you back.
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| In fact, it’s very likely that the problem is systemic. The Medical Group Governance Matrix introduces a simple four-quadrant diagnostic tool to help you find out. It then shows you how to use that tool to build your better, more profitable future. Get your free copy Free.
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| | | | Whenever you're ready, here are 4 ways I can help you and your business:
1. Download a copy of The Success Prescription. My book, The Success Prescription provides you with a framework for thinking about your success. Download a copy of The Success Prescription here.
2. Be a guest on “Wisdom. Applied. Podcast.” Although most of my podcasts involve me addressing an important point for your success, I’m always looking for guests who’d like to be interviewed about their personal and professional achievements and the lessons learned. Email me if you’re interested in participating.
3. Book me to speak to your group or organization. I’ve spoken at dozens of medical group, healthcare organization, university-sponsored, and private events on many topics such as The Impending Death of Hospitals, the strategic use of OIG Advisory Opinions, medical group governance, and succeeding at negotiations. For more information about a custom presentation for you, drop us a line.
4. If You’re Not Yet a Client, Engage Me to Represent You. If you’re interested in increasing your profit and managing your risk of loss, email me to connect directly. |
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