Rheumatology Practice Management
Subscribe to Rheumatology Practice Management

Stay up to date with rheumatology news & updates by subscribing to receive the free RPM print publications or e‑Newsletters.

RPM e-Newsletter
RPM print publication
Iris W. Nichols
Founding Editor-in-Chief, Rheumatology Practice Management
Practice Administrator, Arthritis and Osteoporosis Consultants of the Carolinas
Charlotte, NC

Xunzi, a Confucian philosopher born in 300 BC, is quoted as saying, “In order to properly understand the big picture, everyone should fear becoming mentally clouded and obsessed with one small section of truth.”

Rheumatology practices are not unique in the way strategic planning is approached: managers and administrators spend the majority of their time focusing on minutia, and while minutia is critical to daily operations, it cannot be the driving force of growth and stability. After hearing Xunzi’s philosophy recently, I realized it very much reminds me of what we do during the daily operations of a medical practice: we put out fires, focusing on each issue as it arises. Although we have all become proficient at firefighting, we may have also lost sight of long-term goals in the process.

The other day a physician asked me, “Who is looking at the big picture?” After much thought and reflection on this question, I realized how profound this statement was. We seem to spend so much of our time addressing symptoms that we do not diagnose the disease; we are constantly in a reactive mode, and not a proactive one. This is not a healthy approach for long-term success, and as such, we can and must redirect our focus from crisis management toward identifying and implementing a strategic plan.

We are all familiar with a dashboard. According to Wikipedia,1 the dashboard component of a management information system is “an easy to read, often single page, real-time user interface, showing a graphical presentation of the current status (snapshot) and historical trends of an organization’s key performance indicators to enable instantaneous and informed decisions to be made at a glance. In real-world terms, dashboard is another name for progress report or report. Often, the dashboard is displayed on a web page that is linked to a database that allows the report to be constantly updated.”

We as managers and administrators should implement this concept to create an overall picture of the practice at a glance. Billing, coding, clinical care, compliance, facilities management, financial oversight, and human resources, not to mention government-mandated programs along with Meaningful Use and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, all hold a vital place on the dashboard. Who owns these key performance indicators in your office? These employees need to be identified and put into positions where their autonomy and initiative can help you achieve the practice’s overall vision.

You and your physician board need to define where you see the practice next month, next year, and in the next 5 to 10 years. Think about how you want to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction. This may be accomplished by adding physicians, expanding ancillary services, improving patient flow, scheduling efficiently, and having a person answer the phone or simply remembering to smile while working at the front desk. Look at the staff you have and determine if you have individuals who understand the practice, have defined skills, and are excited to learn new ones or who are not afraid of new tasks.

You need independent staff members who you can trust to perform their duties with integrity, and they should have the ability to work with autonomy. When you find these types of employees, you need to empower them to do their jobs and not micromanage them. We in management must allow these employees to be successful; however, we need to hold them accountable as they drive us to the ultimate goal of stability and success.

Some of our colleagues have discovered the mechanism by which they can focus on the big picture. They have identified the core group of staff members who focus on critical “small truths.” They may have also restructured staff, updated protocols, and simplified patient flow. There are many opportunities to learn from these leaders, one of which is happening September 12-13, 2014, when I and more than 100 of our colleagues will be at the National Organization of Rheumatology Managers Conference in downtown Louisville, KY. While there, you will have the ability to connect with many of your peers in the dynamics of practice management and learn their tips for success.

As we come together, we can continue to learn that just getting through the day or effectively putting out fires will not work for long; for effective planning and successful practices, we must continue “to properly understand the big picture.” See you in Kentucky!

Reference

  1. Wikipedia contributors. Dashboard (management information systems). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashboard_(management_information_systems). Accessed July 30, 2014.

Related Items