Strukturion of Future Thinking
The term “realaverism” describes the tendency to deny or ignore unpleasant realities and often externalise them. In German medical practices, this realaverism manifests itself, for example, in the way in which the phenomenon of no-shows, i.e. the absence of patients from agreed appointments without prior cancellation, is dealt with.
The feature most frequently mentioned in benchmarking practice analyses as part of the SWOT survey when it comes to the strengths of doctors and staff is the professional qualifications of the practice owners. However, this view is misleading and can even be dangerous for practice management. Why this is the case and what the consequences are is central to understanding modern practice management.
Continue reading “The competence fallacy of German general practitioners and specialists”
The leadership skills of practice owners are of crucial importance for future-oriented GP and specialist practice management. It ensures that employees work together as “real” teams in a motivated, efficient, flexible and successful manner and can thus proactively respond to developments in the practice’s operating environment. But how future-oriented are the futurised practices (which represent a perspective expansion of the best practice standard) of GPs and specialists today? An evaluation of the results of practice management comparisons provides information.
The article discusses how internal inefficiencies, such as unnecessary mobile phone use during work and poor organizational practices, lead to significant time loss in medical practices, far outweighing the time spent on digitization and bureaucratic tasks.
Continue reading “German healthcare system: Practice teams are stealing their own time”
Digitalisation in the German healthcare system offers considerable potential for increasing the efficiency and quality of patient care. Nevertheless, the transformation is only progressing slowly, especially in medical practices. This is why there is an intensive debate on how the benefits of digital solutions for outpatient care can be quickly and systematically realised by GPs and specialists. The central starting point here is to overcome the scepticism and reluctance of practice owners by providing targeted information and concrete use cases. However, this attitude is only the tip of the iceberg. However, two fundamental problems remain largely unnoticed, which are an extreme obstacle to effective digitalisation: inadequate organisational and organisational structures and a lack of entrepreneurial skills and knowledge among doctors.
Continue reading “The underestimated barriers to digitalisation in German medical practices”
The results from the employee surveys of our practice management comparisons show that around 25% of German GP and specialist practices have a system that is reminiscent of the medieval pillory: practice owners publicly reprimand their employees in front of colleagues and patients when they make mistakes. The reasons for such open criticism may be factually justified, but the procedure is completely unsuitable as a disciplinary measure.
Continue reading “Outpatient medicine in Germany: The medieval pillory in modern medical practices”
Like all other players in the healthcare system in Germany, GPs and specialists are also facing a major challenge: digitalisation. However, the widespread reluctance of many practice owners to embrace this transformation is often misinterpreted. It’s not primarily about a rejection of the technology itself, but about a deeper, often unconscious realisation for doctors: current practice management models are reaching their limits and a comprehensive redesign of management is unavoidable.
Measuring efficiency in a medical practice often presents complex challenges for practitioners. The multifaceted nature of service delivery in medical practices makes it difficult to determine a simple measure of efficiency. Various factors such as the quality of patient care, waiting and processing times, employee qualifications, resource utilization, and patient satisfaction play a role and must be taken into account. A purely quantitative assessment falls short, as qualitative aspects like treatment quality and patient well-being are also significant.
Continue reading “The Challenge of Efficiency Measurement in Medical Practices”
The concepts of productivity, efficiency and effectiveness are of great importance in the context of practice management and specifically in the employee management of physicians in private practice. They influence not only the operational process, but also the quality of patient care and ultimately the economic success of the practice.
Effectiveness refers to the extent to which set goals are actually achieved. In a medical practice, this could be improving patient satisfaction or reducing waiting times, for example.
Effectiveness means managing staff in such a way that practice teams are successful in achieving their goals. This requires clear communication of what needs to be accomplished, regular feedback on implementation, and any adjustments to the work process.
Productivity describes the ratio of output to input in a given time frame. In a doctor’s office, the output could be the number of patients treated, while the input includes the resources used to do so, such as time, personnel and materials.
For staff management, high productivity means deploying staff in a way that makes the best use of resources. Training, clear work instructions and, of course, unambiguous communication all help to keep productivity on target.
Efficiency is the term used when a goal is achieved with a minimum use of resources. Thus, it is a specific form of productivity that is concerned with how well inputs are converted into outputs.
Efficiency in people management means that teams are organized in such a way that they can accomplish the given tasks in optimal time and quality. This can be achieved through good planning, proper selection and training of staff, and the use of best practices to ensure that misalignments don’t get in the way of the work.
Productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness are closely related concepts that play a key role in employee management. By applying them correctly and monitoring them on an ongoing basis, physicians in private practice can optimize practice operations, improve patient care, and ensure financial success.
Integrating these concepts into practice management, for example through practice management benchmarking with ratios, can be a useful method is the appropriate method for this purpose. It uses the validated guideline of the Best Practice Standard for this purpose. It describes all the regulations, instruments and behaviors that are essential in the action areas of practice management, from planning to market research, organization, leadership, patient care and marketing to controlling, for work that functions smoothly even under changing requirements.
In the modern workplace, an effective feedback culture is essential, and this naturally applies to the medical environment as well. Practice owners have a key role to play in creating a positive feedback culture in this context. The term “culture” plays a crucial role here, as it lays the foundation for the way feedback is given and received in the working environment of a medical practice. 🌐
Continue reading “Efficient practice management: The importance of a feedback culture 🏥👨⚕️👩⚕️”
R2049 