There are 12 essential functions of a medical practice. You need to know what they areand who is taking care of each for you. Here is the most common piece of advice I give to coaching clients:

     “Stop thinking of yourself as a working physician all of the time. Work on your practice, not just in it”

There are 3 main motivators on the job:
autonomy
mastery
contribution

Since you are good at making clinical decisions, and you don’t have to check with anyone before you make these decisions, and patients thank you profusely for helping them, that’s what you’re likely to spend your time doing. But that is not enough. Regardless of where you are in your career you must start to become educated about the business side of your practice. The more you practice and learn about the business basics, the easier it will be for you to make business decisions.

You don’t have to personally manage all 12 functions, but you should know enough about them to detect if they are being mismanaged. To do otherwise would be to stay a child, vulnerable to whomever you are trusting to much to run your practice without oversight.

David Zahaluk, MD is a revenue enhancement specialist for doctors and the author of “The Ultimate Practice Building Book.”

Jack Canfield

I am listening to Jack Canfield’s audiobook called “The Success Principles”. Great book, you should get it. I bought the book a few years ago when he came to speak at my church but I barely read it. I much prefer the audiobook because I find it easier to learn that way.

One of the principles Jack talks about is ‘The Rule of 5″. Do 5 things that bring you closer to your main objective   every day.  Jack explains using the metaphor of chopping down a tree. If you had a huge tree in your back yard all you must do is take 5 good swings at it with a sharp axe every day. Eventually the tree must come down.

The problem with most practices (or any type of small business) is that there are 25 trees and randomly the owner is running around with an axe in each hand swatting at a tree here and a tree there until he or she passes out from exhaustion. What is needed is a little focus and several other competent concerned people with sharp axes at the ready to take down one tree at a time.

What is your main ”tree” right now? What is the list of things you are doing to knock that sucker down?

How much energy, time and money are you wasting by not having really good answers to the above two questions? How is that affecting your key relationships and your health?  

David Zahaluk, MD is a revenue enhancement specialist for doctors and the author of “The Ultimate Practice Building Book.”