Physicians are the most important players in an increasingly complicated and competitive industry, which now consumes more than
15% of our
GDP. Yet, the vast majority of medical
practices are ill equipped to compete because they do not have a
business strategy/plan.
Reacting to what is happening around you is not an effective business strategy. To be sure, commercial insurers,
Medicare, employers, equipment suppliers, drug companies and hospitals,
all have proactive business plans that are designed to increase their share of the pie. The increased share has come primarily at
the expense of physicians. Without a business plan, medical groups will continue to see their share of the pie dwindle.
An articulated business strategy or plan helps the group make decisions throughout the year. It can be simple as a budget with a
general consensus or common vision among the partners as to where the practice intends to end up at the end of a year. Your strategy
will impact your decisions on staffing, capital improvements, hospital relations, insurance participation, office locations,
succession planning, marketing, bonus distributions and tax planning, and even vacation
scheduling. A business strategy
will give qualified but frustrated managers and their staff something to shoot for and will tend to energize the entire group.
But before any business can develop a sound strategy, it needs to make a good assessment of itself to determine where it is and to
develop measurable baseline line benchmarks. Because so much is at stake, and because it can be time consuming, we recommend the
use of a qualified consultant to cut through the internal politics, to help establish benchmarks objectively and to act as your
facilitator.
