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| Dear Friend,
Work. Life. Work versus life. WTF?
Recently, I saw an article in The Wall Street Journal about pandemic economics and work
life balance.
In particular, they wrote that people's balance was off because they were working from home. In fact, they stated that work was keeping people from having a life.
But that's an entirely fallacious concept. If you like what you do, if you're doing something that energizes you, that empowers you, that gives you a purpose, then that is your life. It's not something separate from your life.
This reminds me that many physicians live by the concept of what I call the "physician expiration date". You know, like some date stamped on the bottom of a can: Good until September 15, 2025. Then, all of a sudden, they are retired.
But yet, what happens to so many people who retire, when they lose that larger purpose, that work that somehow "interfered" (so the WSJ claims!) with life? They no longer have that work and they've lost the purpose for life.
Don't fall into that trap.
It's a trap that not only has an unfortunate payday when that big piece of your life called work is gone, but it's also one that prevents you from taking on new challenges, from expanding your practice, from expanding your business.
Look, even if it were true that you had 12 months to live, would you want to stop doing anything new because your last day is about to come? I maintain that you wouldn't.
Think about that. Think about how that actually intersects with your business strategy, your group's business strategy, or your facility's business strategy.
Take work life balance, turn it on its head, and make it pay off for you. |
| | | 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.] |
| | Watch Tuesday's video here, or just keep reading below for a revised, more polished transcript:
I'd like to talk about negotiation, leadership, and the interplay between the two.
Let’s say that you’re a member of a hospital-based medical group. The group could be sized at 10 or 20 members, or two thousand; it doesn’t make any difference. And, let's assume you’re negotiating with a hospital for a new exclusive contract.
Your group has a board or a board equivalent, like a management committee, together
with leaders, a group president and so on. It might also have, depending on its size, an executive director.
The group, via the executive director, is negotiating with St. Mark’s Community Memorial Hospital for an exclusive contract. They’ve hit some sticking point. What do you do?
Certainly, there are many strategies for dealing with a sticking point in a contract negotiation. But, consider this: maybe it’s time to switch up the negotiator.
This doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with the executive director’s skills. Instead, it’s just a fact that very often, simply resetting the group’s contracting interface is way to reset things with the other side.
It’s not a demotion, it’s simply a smart strategic move. |
| | 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 - Who Really Owns Your Medical Group? - Medical Group Minute
Watch the video here, or just keep reading below for a slightly polished transcript:
Walmart is famous for its slogan “Save Money. Live Better.”
It’s no surprise that the slogan is aimed at the customer.
But what about the supplier?
There is a tremendous analogy here for medical groups, especially for hospital-based medical groups.
From the start, Walmart employed a low-price strategy. The way they sell at low prices is to buy at lower prices.
Many manufacturers, as they began selling to Walmart, craved the large distribution the stores offered. They’d assess how much Walmart would buy, and look at how many stores Walmart would put their product in. And, then, in order to get the Walmart business and that tremendous distribution, they’d sell to Walmart at very reduced prices.
But as Walmart became a bigger and bigger part of a manufacturer’s business, Walmart began putting the pressure on. They knew that the manufacturer was so dependent upon Walmart for their huge volume and reach, that they could push even harder for really low prices, for low, lower, and lowest prices.
So, what does that have to do with you?
If you’re the leader of a hospital-based medical group, an anesthesiology, radiology, emergency medicine, pathology, or hospitalist group, it’s the same story. And, for those
office-based physicians working for a hospital, it’s definitely the same story.
If the huge bulk of your business is dependent upon a single hospital or a system of hospitals, say, six hospitals in XYZ, Kentucky, then who really owns your group? Do you own your group? Or, in essence, does the system, or the hospital, own your group?
After all, if they make a demand on you (“we’re cutting your stipend,” or “we’re reducing salaries” or “we want you to expand coverage”) then what choice do you have other than to say “yes”? The alternative, of course, whether spoken or understood, is that you’ll soon be an “ex-vendor” or “ex- employee.” [I didn’t say “ex-partner” because you never were treated as
a “partner.”]
The real question is, have you, in essence, given away the ownership of your practice entity?
And, should you go to sell your group, if you’ve become that dependent on one large
source of business, what sort of a discount will the buyer demand due to your huge,
“baked in” fragility?
Think about it: Do you and your fellow physician “owners” really own what you think you own?
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| | | Listen to the podcast here, or just keep reading for the transcript.
Just as no vote was required for a dictator like Castro to take over Cuba, no medical staff vote, no survey by Press Ganey, no long and drawn out process among “stakeholders,” is required to topple the status quo.
In the original “flea” post, the story centered on the fact that a relative handful of
physicians toppled the rule of Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center CEO,
Sheldon Retchin, M.D.
And now, the Detroit Free Press is reporting that physician leaders at Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health System are circulating a similar no-confidence petition aimed at Beaumont's President and CEO John Fox and its Executive Vice President and CMO,
David Wood, Jr., M.D.
The “takeaway” of the original “flea” post, was that the few can make the mighty fall, and fall hard. That if you’re the mighty (the dog in the flea example) watch out for the few, for the flea. And, alternatively, that you can be the flea. That lesson still stands, as valid as ever.
But there's another takeaway as well, one that I urge you to focus on very carefully.
We'll all steeped in the notion of the status quo, of how things are done, of the normal order
of things.
Many, perhaps most, even, perhaps all, physicians have trouble with this concept. Maybe it's the result of the lockstep progression through school to school to school to residency to fellowship to the stratified world of medical staffs and hospital-centric healthcare.
As a result, many physicians, and even group leaders, settle for what they're given. The hospital says "structure it this way" and they accept it. They think that reviewing the contract is the same thing as developing and implementing a strategy for success; it's not. The first is a form of giving in and giving up. The second is charting your own course, of putting, dare I say (?), your own interests first.
Would you rather die from the flea dip of playing it safe, of "this is how it's done, so what control do we really have?" Or would you rather stand up and realize that you had power
all along?
To do the latter means you can no longer blame and claim subjugation. To do the latter means you have to invest in yourself: time, effort, and money.
The flea can beat the dog. The David can beat the Goliath. And you, what can you do? |
| | | 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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