It was an environment where chaos reigned.
There was a serious amount of money outstanding but it didn’t take long to work out why.
The problem was the practice principal for he insisted everything had to be done immediately.
And therein lay the problem.
Resolving every problem immediately didn’t allow sufficient thought as to what the problem really was. Nor did it consider the cause or consider the options.
Instead, the problem was receiving less than a minutes attention with the cause of the problem being ignored.
Any and all business require a plan.
Simple said the practice principal because the plan is to see as more patients.
It didn’t occur to him that practice management is important and a business plan is required.
It should not be subject to a stream of quick-fix solutions and absolutely not when the cause of the problem is not established.
Stand still and change at the same time.
Once a plan and goals are defined, the functions of the practice need to be split in two.
Primary and secondary.
The identification of primary productive areas and secondary non-productive areas is done using a value chain. Devised in the mid-’80s by Prof Michael Porter it is one of the simplest things to use. So, what is primary and what is secondary?
Primary: anything directly focused on your patients.
Secondary: anything not patient-focused.
Then what?
Anything secondary should be outsourced. Thus practice staff will be free to concentrate on their primary area. Patients.
So what should this achieve?
The extra time generated allows the practice to speak to MORE patients.
It’s a case of concentrating on what the practice aims are. If you measure your practice against a value chain, you’ll find the primary values are supported by secondary values.
Outsource secondary values and the practice becomes more profitable.
Yet numerous private practices make the mistake of not distinguishing between the two.
With the result, chaos reigns supreme.
The practice doesn’t work as well as it should with patients complaining the telephone isn’t getting answered. But they don’t care because they’ve already telephoned another consultant.
The practice principal disagreed. Secondary “non-productive” areas should be ignored. Concentrate instead on getting more patients. Always more patients.
He still insisted on solving problems immediately.
Heal thyself
His only answer was to blame everyone else.
His 150 miles an hour approach might explain why the practice had gone through 4 practice managers in just over 32 months. It also helps explain why his patient numbers have gone down.
He hasn’t avoided the CHAOS FIELD.
pete@medicalhealthcaremanagement.co.uk