The best way to build your practice is with the help of your existing staff, such that they do 80% of the actual implementation.  Here’s how it works:

1. You determine which function of your practice needs the most attention based on feedback from patients, a benchmarking of your financial performance and your gut feeling on what is the biggest pain in your practice.  (Trust your gut feeling but don’t be overly reliant on it,  especially if objective data contradict your gut.) 

2. You write a plan to improve the processes attached to that function.  Start by having your staff document what they are already doing and also have them identify where the bottlenecks are is in those processes.  Take this process plan to your consultants and managers and have them revise it as though they had full ownership of the redesign.  

3. You approve the final redesign after reviewing and analyzing everyone’s input.  Take questions and problems back to your consultants and managers for them to solve until you are satisfied.

4. You brief your staff on the redesign, give them timelines for implementation and charge them with full implementation.

5. You regroup the implementation weekly at a 1-hour staff meeting that does not take place during regular patient care hours.

6. You audit the process (with your managers help) for 6 months and bonus everyone on reaching the approriate benchmarks.  This is the critical step.

Try this process.  Start with something simple and practice on a couple of functions or processes to get everyone comfortable with the process.  Since your staff is going to have to operate these processes, they should be the ones to implement them.  You can also give your staff feedback on the process redesign – but never, ever, ever give them full authority for the redesign.  You can never delegate 100% of the process redesign to anyone, even your most trusted manager or consultant.

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 3 years… guaranteed.  Learn more at www.UltimatePracticeBuilder.com

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