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| Dear Friend,
Do you have a dream for a bigger and better future?
That's the subject of this past Monday's blog post, Solving the Physician Retirement Crisis. Follow that link to the blog or just keep reading for the rest of the story:
You’ll feel good about yourself today because, together, we’re going to solve the physician retirement crisis.
What, you haven’t heard about the crisis?
Well, obviously as the baby boomer generation is getting older, there are more and more physicians using the “R” word, “retirement.”
I can’t tell you how many physicians I’ve known who’ve retired only to die shortly thereafter. Just like other clients who sold their businesses, lost purpose, and then, well, dropped dead.
I know that many disagree with me. They think retirement is some sort of goal. They’ve fallen for the notion of the “golden years”, blah, blah, blah, and so they are letting their colleagues, and their medical groups, know that they are going to be retiring soon.
Now, certainly, I understand that if a physician is losing his or her skills, if they’re in a specialty that requires very small motor movements, and their hands are beginning to shake, well that’s another story.
But that’s not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about the choice that otherwise healthy physicians make to retire. Why are they making that choice? Is it that they actually want to stop working, which is the assumption. Or is it actually something else? What underlies the “why”?
For many, it’s that they want to slow down. They don’t want the same level of intensity. But if that’s really the underlying “why,” perhaps the assumption made by their group, that someone is either in or out, should change.
Why would it change? Certainly, some medical groups function like accounting firms, where the older partners are pushed out because, if you look at the numbers, it makes sense to push them out . . . there’s more money left for the younger partners.
But is that really the case if, for a medical group, what’s walking out the door is the relationship with the hospital CEO, what’s walking out the door is the twenty years of experience as the group’s president? Is it really a savings to have that person leave? Or is it actually something that’s going to cost the group, and, therefore, the remaining members, money?
On paper, the first year or the second year after the “retiree” is gone, it certainly looks like you saved money because their compensation is no longer a drag on the group. “Hey! Extra money in the bank!” Or, just, “extra money for me!”
But is it really extra money in the bank if you lose key relationships that were putting all of the money in the bank or in your pocket?
The issue then becomes considering ways of repurposing people who would otherwise completely retire.
One client group found their solution: to share positions so that physicians who certainly had their skills, but desired to slow down, split a position. Two physicians sharing one role. Even three.
Other client groups found different solutions, some involving workload and some involving governance and leadership.
Yes, there are issues. Do those physicians retain their full voting rights? Do those physicians receive whatever other benefits the group gives its owners, for example extra year end distributions from a profit pool? But all of those issues can be solved.
What I want you to focus on from the group’s perspective – and, if you’re one of those physicians who’s about to retire, from your own perspective – is what retirement really means.
How can skills and relationships that would otherwise be lost, still be harnessed?
Just like those wealth management people say, the best time to plan for retirement is years in advance. Or today if you haven’t yet stated.
The same rules apply to the governance and group structure issues that can prevent the “retirement” of Dr. X from leading not simply to his death, but to the death of your group as well. |
| | Tuesday - Success in Motion Video: Perception is Reality
Watch Tuesday's video here, or just keep reading below for a revised, more polished transcript: |
| The Wizard of Oz. Almost everybody knows the story, right?
Dorothy, in her dream, is swept off to Oz, where among other things, she runs into the wizard, a man who can cure all ills.
But, as it turns out, the wizard has a very puffed-up resume. He has the appearance of being able to pull things off, but in reality, very little actual ability to do it.
Now I know The Wizard of Oz has another twist, but think about the wizard as somebody who engaged in tremendous puffery, but wasn’t able to deliver.
Today, I saw a story online about a woman who died in 2018. She was a tremendous New York real estate entrepreneur -- I'm not sure if she was a broker or an owner -- but she, along the way to success, certainly lied about her background.
She claimed she had gone to some fancy prep school, to this college and that. She claimed her father had died when she was young, and that her mother has been a very famous child psychologist, and so on.
She made a fortune. She closed a large number of very significant real estate deals and truly delivered.
Yet, years after her death, it's been discovered that her entire backstory was a lie. Her father didn’t die when she was a kid, he lived to 94. Her mother was never a child psychologist. She never went to prep school. She didn't grow up in a wealthy Connecticut enclave, she was from a lower-class or lower-middle-class background.
But, and here’s the point, what’s the harm? Oh my God, she lied on her resume! This is horrible! Not.
To be sure, we’re not talking about lying on a resume such as "I went to medical school," but I didn’t. Or, "I completed this residency," but I didn’t. We’re talking about something else.
What we’re talking about here is the creation of a backstory, the creation of what appears to be real.
Now, I’m not telling you to go lie on your resume, or that lying, per se, is fine. What I’m telling you is that by burnishing an image, creating your own story, giving others the perception of your success, you’re more in control of how others perceive you (and your medical group) than you might think.
“But perception goes on in the other person’s head,” you might say.
Yes, that's true, but what can you do to increase the value of that perception?
This is not only the case for individuals, this is the case for medical groups. It's true for the image they portray about the way they do things, about how they deliver.
In other words, they demonstrate things which, in and of themselves are not capable of being substantiated – they’re invisible and maybe can’t even be experienced.
Think how you can alter how you're perceived.
Again, I’m not telling you to lie, but to question what you can do to change how others perceive you, and perceive the value you deliver, so that they are eager to seek you out.
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| | Wednesday - Medical Group Minute Video: Repurposing a Failing or Closed Hospital
Watch the video here, or just keep reading below for a slightly polished transcript:
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| Almost every day, the story repeats itself. Another bankrupt or closed or closing hospital. Often the infected facility is rural. But sometimes it’s not.
Recently two such stories caught my attention.
The first of the infected hospitals is limping along and about to close. It’s located in a rural community. It’s actively looking for proposals from someone who can take it over.
The second is a closed facility. It’s issued an RFP, looking for proposals from buyers to, they hope, reopen the place as a hospital (probably a bad idea), or to take it over and convert it another sort of healthcare facility – which is a tremendous idea, if, and it’s a big if, the situation is right.
For example, what’s the population in the community? What are the demographics? How many physicians are there? How many procedures are those physicians performing? Can those procedures be performed at a surgery center? And so on.
My point is that while the notion that I call The Impending Death of Hospitals (download my complimentary book by that name here) is impacting hospitals of all sizes (certainly small hospitals very hard), some of their physical shells are built out close enough to the specifications for another type of healthcare facility. That makes a conversion a very manageable project, whether it’s a conversion for a single facility or for a multi-facility “medical mall.”
If this interests you, start paying attention to the news. You’re going to see a lot more of these types of properties becoming available. Then, let’s talk about what’s involved its conversion to a facility owned by you.
It’s not a question of how to do it yourself, it’s knowing who can do it for you and with you.
Hope to hear from you soon. |
| | Thursday - Podcast: What Herman Cain Knows About The Defect In Medical Group Compensation Plans |
| Listen to the podcast here, or just keep reading for the transcript.
Herman Cain withdrew his name from consideration for a Fed seat because he couldn’t afford (or didn’t want) to work for the relatively low pay.
So, how can you expect one of your partners to devote time to running your medical group, if you won’t compensate him or her for it?
After all, you get what you pay for.
If you try to get it without paying for it, you won’t get much of it, at least not of high quality.
And you are probably stealing. The irony is that you are stealing from yourself, from your future.
Medical Group Compensation Plans
What does your medical group’s compensation plan compensate for? The usual answer is “productivity,” whether measured in units or minutes or by some other standard.
If your group compensates for X, you will get more of X. So if X is units, your group’s physicians will be motivated to maximize their production of units.
But if your group compensates for X and also wants Y, you will get a lot of X and not very much, if any, Y.
For many medical groups, Y is leadership. They want their group leaders to lead, but their compensation plans incentivize only the production of units.
Is it any surprise that the “leadership stuff” is relegated to the wee hours of the night or even to the wee hours of never? Is it any surprise that there’s no actual leadership, only “consensus?” Is it any surprise that the leaders schedule business meetings at 7 pm or on weekends, signaling amateur status?
If you don’t pay for leadership, you won’t get much, if any, of it. You will create tension. You will create resentment. But you will not create leadership.
You’ll be stealing from the leaders – either from their ability to generate units or from their time for themselves or with their families.
And, as a result you will get a very weak form of leadership, one that results in your group stealing from its own future in the form of poor decisions and lost opportunities.
You’ve got great plans to take over the region or to simply protect your position at one facility. You expect your leaders to achieve that goal. Yet you’ve incentivized them away from your goal. Don’t blame them when you never get there. Blame yourself.
It’s time to make sure that your group’s compensation plan is in synch with your group’s business strategy and future.
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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 here.
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Come listen to Mark speak in sunny
Las Vegas on June 5, 2020, at The Advanced Institute for Anesthesia Billing and Practice Management.
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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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