What it’s all about
Most practice teams have been working for many years with the structures and processes they once established years ago. But many arrangements no longer fit the requirements. If problems become too big, mostly only symptom-oriented adjustments are made without looking at the system as a whole. In order to be able to act sustainably, general practitioners and specialists therefore need feedback on the quality of their practice management. A simple procedure helps.
Cemented in stone
One characteristic of the practice management of general practitioners and specialists is that most of them do not have any objective criteria for assessing the effectiveness, efficiency and productivity of their management. In most cases, the structures and processes necessary for running a practice are fundamentally set up once at the time of foundation, takeover or the start of a cooperation and then continued over time for years and decades.
Surface cosmetics
At the same time, however, the demands on practice performance have changed significantly. It is already becoming apparent that the dynamics and intensity of the changes will increase in the future. Most teams take these changes into account by attempting to maintain the workflow through minor „cosmetic“ adjustments and touch-ups „on the surface“, but without
- checking what impact this has on synergies between the areas of action of practice management and thus on overall performance, and without
- analysing whether fundamental changes might not be much better at eliminating acute problems, counteracting future ones and improving overall system functionality.
Flexible and successful through comparisons
Considering their workload, practice owners who are toying with the idea of replacing their „salami optimisation“ with a professional and sustainable approach think of involving external consultants to carry out this task on site. But this is not at all necessary to get objective feedback on practice management. A practice management benchmarking is initially sufficient to
- determine the quality of practice management objectively and professionally,
- compare it with the professional group and best practice standard and
- identify the necessary adaptation measures.
According to experience, two thirds of the identified possibilities for change can be implemented on one’s own. In all other cases, external help can be called upon, a procedure that not only speeds up implementation but also saves costs.
Briefing paper with detailed information
GPs and specialists who would like to find out more about the functioning and contents of a practice management comparison as well as the benefits for their business management can find out more about this in a detailed briefing paper.
UP: Unlocking Potentials 