Outpatient medicine in Germany: GPs and specialists forgo the inspiring and activating effects of practice management KPIs

What it’s all about

The knowledge and use of key performance indicators (KPIs) is of central importance for efficient and sustainably flexible practice management. However, many doctors in private practice in Germany fail to deal with these key performance indicators and, as a result, miss out on numerous inspiring and activating effects.

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The consequences of the metricnorance of German GPs and specialists

What it’s all about

GPs and specialists in Germany traditionally have a distanced or even hostile attitude towards business management methods and instruments. In this context, there is also talk of “metricnorance”, formed from the words “metric” and “ignorance”. The term refers to the ignorance or deliberate disregard of important metrics that provide insights into what is happening in practice. In doing so, they overlook the immense potential for analysis and organisation that they are foregoing and which could help them to drastically improve not only the quality of their patient care, but also their own working conditions. The following example describes what practice owners are foregoing with a metricnorance mindset.

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Outpatient care of the future in Germany: Not without business knowledge

What it’s all about

Doctors in private practice have a distant to negative relationship with the term “business management”. This is mainly due to ignorance and prejudice. However, this attitude means that important tools that can improve patient care, guarantee the flexibility required for transformation in the medium term and ensure the long-term success of the practice are not utilised.

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Inefficient practice management costs German GPs and specialists millions of euros a year

What it’s all about

Benchmarking studies of practice management show that, on average, GPs and specialists in Germany only consider half of the best practice standard in their practice management. This deficit has a considerable impact on economic efficiency because, metaphorically speaking, money is being thrown out of the window.

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Why the quality of care in German GP and specialist practices is worse than it could be

What it’s all about

Despite the availability of a best practice standard for practice management, benchmarking analyses show that, on average, German GPs and specialists only implement around half of this validated guideline. This discrepancy has far-reaching negative effects on the quality of patient care.

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The five most common excuses used by GPs and specialists in Germany against changes in practice management

What it’s all about

Efficient and adaptable practice management is crucial for maintaining high standards of patient care and operational success. Despite this, many GPs and specialists in private practice are surprisingly resistant to change, even when there is clear evidence that their current systems are failing. Below are the five most common pretexts and excuses that practice owners use to avoid making necessary changes. Understanding the psychological motives behind these excuses is crucial to recognising the underlying resistance to change.

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Clinical picture of “Goal Deficiency Disorder (GDD)”: German GPs and specialists hardly ever use target agreements

What it’s all about

Benchmarking analyses of practice management show that only 10% of German doctors have a professional goal agreement system. This alarmingly low level illustrates the considerable discrepancy between the requirements of effective practice management and the reality in many medical practices. But what are the concrete disadvantages for doctors in private practice who do not agree targets with their employees?

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Are german general practitioners and specialists masochists?

What it’s all about

Work overload, insufficient remuneration, non-functioning digitalisation, nonsensical health policy regulations and bureaucratisation dominate the complaints of doctors in private practice about their work. They convey the image of a profession that is suffering under its burden. However, a look at the reality of practice operations shows that this need not be the case, as numerous unused optimisation opportunities in practice management often remain unconsidered. This article examines the causes and consequences of this neglect and poses the provocative question of whether doctors in private practice may have masochistic tendencies.

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The hidden weakness of German medical practices: Why subjective judgements sabotage everyday practice

What it’s all about

A characteristic feature of German practice owners is the evaluation of the quality of their practice management based on subjective assessments instead of objective data. This inevitably leads to serious misjudgements that have a negative impact on the overall service provision and quality of practice operations, a situation that can be identified time and again in practice management comparisons.

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Practice management: What characterises progressive medical practices in Germany

What it’s all about

Medical practice comparisons show that the approximately 15% of German doctors in private practice who systematically use digital solutions are characterised by entrepreneurially oriented practice management in the form of best practice practice management, in contrast to their professional colleagues who are transitory or traditional in terms of transformation.

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