Looking to get more new patients?  Patients tend to select a doctor or medical clinic the way they select other products and services:

1. They go to who they already use or formerly used, unless they had a bad experience. (60%)
2. They go to who their friends, family and others in their sphere of influence recommend. (30%}
3. They look at ads, mostly in the yellow pages and mailings to their home. (10&)

So two good questions to ask yourself are, “Who else has influence over the type of patients that I would like to see?” and “How can we mutually benefit in a cooperative endeavor?”

David Zahaluk, MD is a practice optimization expert and the author of The Ultimate Practice Building Book.  His firm, Ultimate Practice Builder, takes physicians to the top 10% of their specialty – in income, time off and quality indicators - within years… guaranteed.  Learn more at www.UltimatePracticeBuilder.com.

It’s counter-intuitive but true: the less you do, the more you earn.  The less busy work you do, the more quality people you delegate to and truly manage, the more your enterprise will grow.  That’s a hard one for most doctors to accept.

David Zahaluk, MD is a practice optimization expert and the author of The Ultimate Practice Building Book.  His firm, Ultimate Practice Builder, takes physicians to the top 10% of their specialty – in income, time off and quality indicators - within years… guaranteed.  Learn more at www.UltimatePracticeBuilder.com.

The biggest stress reducer for modern medical practices is to have a fully, integrated, well-trained, customer-service-sensitive staff.  That requires a first-class recruitment and retention effort.  Since a lot of employees in a medical office are single parents, that means you have to have a decent benefit package.  Do you?  If not, email me and I’ll put you in touch with someone who will absolutely change your life for the better.  (We have partnered with a nationwide benefits vendor that has terrific group health insurance benefits).  

David Zahaluk, MD is a practice optimization expert and the author of The Ultimate Practice Building Book.  His firm, Ultimate Practice Builder, takes physicians to the top 10% of their specialty – in income, time off and quality indicators - within years… guaranteed.  Learn more at www.UltimatePracticeBuilder.com.

Generally we overestimate what we can accomplish in the short term and underestimate what we can successfuly accomplish in the long term.  Moving from daily lists to a one year plan helps this.  Moving to a 3-year or a 5-year plan is even better.

Also bigger is better when it comes to goal setting and planning.  Be heady, wild and audacious when you set your goals.  Provide yourself a worthy challenge.

David Zahaluk, MD is a practice optimization expert and the author of The Ultimate Practice Building Book.  His firm, Ultimate Practice Builder, takes physicians to the top 10% of their specialty – in income, time off and quality indicators - within years… guaranteed.  Learn more at www.UltimatePracticeBuilder.com.

You know how doctors are constantly barraged with opportunities to invest in everything from a new anti-aging skin cream to surgery centers?

I was just asked to invest and put together a pool of investors for an exam that  can be done in the primary doctors office, has high need, provides useful clinical data and no one else is doing this (yet).

I have an investment advisor for these types of things.  I pay him to go through the proformas, look at the overall capitalization, check out the legality of the business structure, etc.

It’s easy to get seduced into these types of investments.  The quality of the independent advisor you have to review these deals has everything to do with the quality of your decisions.  I spend a lot of money on good advisors because I know in the end it’s worth it.

David Zahaluk, MD is a practice optimization expert and the author of The Ultimate Practice Building Book.  His firm, Ultimate Practice Builder, takes physicians to the top 10% of their specialty – in income, time off and quality indicators - within years… guaranteed.  Learn more at www.UltimatePracticeBuilder.com.

One of the things that big companies do that small practices typically don’t do is scenario planning.
What are the top 3 things that could go wrong in your practice?  What would you do in those scenarios?  Often if you wait for the adverse event, it’s too late.

The time to put your assets into a family limited partnership or living trust is before you get sued for malpractice, not after.  The same could be said about being served with divorce papers.

The time to apply for long term disablity insurance is before the MI or ACL reconstruction, not after.

We’re so small there is no one there to look over our shoulder and remind us to be more conservative in handling our risks.  That’s why you need both a business coach and a CFP.

David Zahaluk, MD is a practice optimization expert and the author of The Ultimate Practice Building Book.  His firm, Ultimate Practice Builder, takes physicians to the top 10% of their specialty – in income, time off and quality indicators - within years… guaranteed.  Learn more at www.UltimatePracticeBuilder.com.

Do you have a written 1 year plan for your practice?  The chances of getting your practice to where you want without a written plan are the same as the chances of driving over to my house without my address or a map.  Even if your ideas are a little misguided, a written plan will help to clarify logical inconsistencies and direct you to revisit your overall strategy.  This one is a must for anyone serious about improving their practice.

David Zahaluk, MD is a practice optimization expert and the author of The Ultimate Practice Building Book.  His firm, Ultimate Practice Builder, takes physicians to the top 10% of their specialty – in income, time off and quality indicators - within years… guaranteed.  Learn more at www.UltimatePracticeBuilder.com.

To all our clients and prospective clients, Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope your husband, wife or significant other benefits as greatly (or more) than you do from our process. They are a keystakeholder in your life and you need the connection, support, love and encouragement that they often provide selflessly and completely.

David Zahaluk, MD is a practice optimization expert and the author of The Ultimate Practice Building Book.  His firm, Ultimate Practice Builder, takes physicians to the top 10% of their specialty – in income, time off and quality indicators - within years… guaranteed.  Learn more at www.UltimatePracticeBuilder.com.

PS: Look for an upcoming post called “The Ole Ball N’ Chain”

Your level of success is directly proportional to what you do AFTER you do what is expected of you.
To quote Brian Tracy, “There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.”  Go the extra mile for your patients.  Help them to get the impression that you are an expert who cares about them.
If you can make the doctor patient-relationship more human, you are well on your way to a successful practice.

By the way, the teaching when I went to medical school was that 85% of diagnoses are made on history.  I think that’s still generally true although I would not debate the actual percentage.  Doesn’t it make sense to create an atmosphere that fosters clear communication?  And isn’t trust the foundation of that relationship?

Does the decision making power in your practice reside with you or with someone else?  The one who controls the decisions typically either earns the most income or earns it with the least amount of work.  The choice to abdicate control usually means a decrease in your earning power.  Even if you outsource a key function of your practice you can still be in control.  Stay in control of your practice whenever possible.