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| Dear Friend,
It costs nothing to start out being nice.
Prior to a speech to medical residents, I was chatting with the Department Chair concerning the growing importance of customer service in healthcare. I strongly believe that great clinical skills are only the "price of admission" and that demonstrating, not just talking about, high touch, high caring service is one of the keys to success.
After the lecture, as I crossed the quad, I had a phone conversation with someone who shed a different light on the same subject.
The caller had recently interviewed for a position at a well-known institution, renowned for its world-class status, only to report that most of the people she met with were jerks. She has an extremely even temperament and isn't prone to hyperbole. She has highly valuable credentials. Even if she's offered the position, it's now likely that she'll reject them.
As strange as it might seem, caring and common courtesy are commodities in short supply. At the same time, they're cheap and easy to deploy.
If you have members of your group who believe that the universe revolves around them, they are right: they have the ability to destroy the otherwise high-value of their assumedly competent clinical skills by pissing off everyone around them, from patients, to colleagues, to nursing staff, to potential new hires.
Hire the right people, those who understand that delivering care with a smile is the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down.
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| | Wednesday - Opting Out to Opt-In For Yourself - Medical Group Minute
Watch the video here, or just keep reading below for a slightly polished transcript:
I'm no enemy of fast food. I just don't want to eat it. I don't care if you do. I wouldn't make it illegal. But some mayors would.
In the socialist worldview, it's all about top down control. For example, making everyone buy health insurance and then dictating what insurance companies must cover and prohibiting them from screening for preexisting conditions. Or, for example, empowering hospitals to control ACOs and dispensing with the former "logic" of anti-kickback, self-referral and antitrust laws to permit them to herd physicians into the new program.
Some, a few, physicians had already opted out of the government system (Medicare) and out of the insurance system as well, going into "concierge" medicine. They were criticized as somehow being "less than" for not wanting to be a public utility. For not wanting to be sheep.
Although many physicians are rushing into ACO models, hospital employment and other "alignment," as that system fails, not just economically but in terms of the quality of care and, importantly, the quality of experience, those with the means to do so will opt out. And that presents an opportunity for physicians entrepreneurial enough to establish practices and networks to provide what those patients want.
As the British National Health Service, and many fast food chains, prove, delivering slop is acceptable to many. But others are willing to pay top dollar for quality care and, more importantly, setting aside statistical notions of quality, for high quality wrapped in a high value qualitative experience.
I don't care how many Whoppers I can get for $5. Do you?
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| | | Listen to the podcast here, or just keep reading for the transcript.
As I record this, the economy is still in a state of near complete disrepair.
Billing services continue to forecast a significant decline in physician collections.
Similar to the market in general, the healthcare market in general is in a state of flux. Earlier states of flux have resulted in Medicare, seen in short-sighted terms by many physicians of the mid 1960s as a new source of funding, but which became a drag on reimbursements, a target to which other carriers and management care payors aspire.
Prior market flux in the healthcare market also saw physicians abdicate responsibility in the face of managed care, which doing the negative impact of Medicare one better, reduced both physician incomes and physician control over the practice of medicine and the destiny of healthcare.
What’s a physician group to do?
I suspect that the majority will continue to benchmark to the leaders in retrenching, and will do absolutely nothing but cut costs, lie low and wait for better days. Picture a tortoise, not in the sense of The Tortoise and the Hare, for this tortoise isn’t moving, just sitting there, arms, legs and tail too, pulled into its shell.
Others will see a panacea in employment of physicians by hospitals, but there’s no real security for physicians employed by hospitals, its downside protection is illusory and its cap on upside profitability is absolute. Instead, it’s another long slide to less control and ultimately far less income. Again, picture the tortoise, this time in a cage.
There’s never been an advantage of lowering expectations in terms of income and control through exclusive contract provisions. After all, someone else's expectations will always be lower. That’s exactly why groups who want to succeed should be doing the opposite – now is the time to become aggressive in terms of both your group’s internal operations and its external relationships.
As in any crisis, there’s an opportunity. But in today’s economic climate, too many groups are running so scared they can’t see the openings.
Consider the following specific examples of the actions that groups must take in order to thrive.
Devote time and effort to building the group’s brand in respect of the facilities it serves. The physicians it works with and the patients it cares for. What can you do to make your group indispensable and irreplaceable? Working on providing a unique experience, one that other groups will never think even to duplicate it. And if they could think of it, not knowing how to do it. Groups that want to shape their own destiny have the opportunity to own these relationships. The benchmarkers will simply ignore them.
Develop internal resources. Ensure that your group is tightly structured to keep its weaker members from splintering under pressure. In turbulent times individuals are often too concerned with their own survival to be focused on the group’s thrival. Do what it takes to coach your physicians to support the group’s initiatives. If they cannot, or will not, you need to make the tough decision about whether to let them pull you down the drain.
Focus on alternative income sources. Just because everyone knows that anesthesiologists, for example, make their money perioperatively, doesn’t mean there are no alternative means of supplementing your group’s income. For example, provide medical administrative services outside the scope of your present hospital arrangement. License your group’s intellectual properties to others outside of your market. Or launch a medical management service arm to provide your expertise to third parties.
Above all, take the time and make the effort to position your group for your next exclusive contract. Done properly, the time to start on renewal is as soon as the ink is dry on the current contract.
Using contracting as the focus pulls your group along in the many areas that not only support a stronger relationship with the hospital, but which make the group’s operations that much more improved.
Others are participating in the recession, if you want to thrive, just determine to opt-out.
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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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