Randall Berning's Smart Words For Smart Doctor CEO's

Long-Term Perspective

We often discuss the value of setting written objectives that tie to a Doctor CEO's practice or personal life vision and timeline. No question the process of honing an objective, testing that it is realistic and allocating resources works. What is not emphasized enough is the level of investment needed by the Doctor CEO, the whole dental practice team and occasionally outside advisors. It can be enormous! We find that because it can be involved, some doctors shy away and never fully commit to allocating the time, energy and resources necessary to implement their objectives. The payoff, as a result, never comes. Yet, we find repeatedly as the years go by that for doctors that do lead their practices with a clear vision and reasonable and measurable objectives never regret the resources committed. For your practice consider the long term benefits of starting and cultivating a disciplined management process that offers high impact continuous benefits to your practice and you. If you would like to discuss applying the process to your practice consider our Tackle It Consultation.

High Quality and Efficient Care

In one of my recent practice assessment meetings I discussed with a Doctor CEO what he thought the perception of the practice was in the eyes of his patients. Our conversation covered a number of aspects but he, like many doctors answering a similar question, kept returning to "we have a high quality practice". In talking with other doctors over the last few weeks on both the East and West coasts, several noted that contemporary patients expect high quality and it should be the first step toward the well developed practice, not the last. Given the stress in our economy one doctor noted that he and his team were conscious of being the most efficient they could be with the patient's time. They were sensitive to scheduling conflicts and what was to be done at an appointment. Thinking about this mix of conversations, the suggestion is that Doctor CEOs state to patients the given of providing the highest quality care but also communicate that they are seeking to be efficient with the patient's time as an enhancement of the value of being a patient in the practice.

What's In Your Future?

 What gets to you, the economy, your practice marketing (or lack of), your practice performance, politics at the national, state or local level (or all of them!) maybe the environment? Today it feels like you can take your pick and they all seem thorny and in some cases downright depressing! Maybe we need a more optimistic view. I have been through my share of recent practice planning meetings to know that some Doctor CEOs are finding particularly painful the slow overall economic recovery. Yet, there may be many reasons to see a future that is brighter. Once the economic recovery is on a firm footing the practices that have made it and are well regarded will be sought after. It should be a time of reaping the pent up demand from patients that have delayed care over the past 4-5 years. Subscribers of the Smart Doctor CEO Coaching Newsletter will have as a bonus this month a book review on the new book, Abundance, by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler. As you can tell from the title it is a very up book! If you are interested in a gaining a different perspective you can order it from Randall's Reading List in our Store.

The Path to Growth and Profitability

Several doctors have inquired lately how they can quickly jump start their practices. They feel the limpness of the first quarter and fear it will be the same for the balance of the year. They all stated they need to make up for the last couple of slow years and want growth now. I discussed that there are always some steps that can be taken to increase momentary growth. But that was clearly not what was wanted, they wanted continued and sustained growth. Even more, when probed, they wanted to have profitability improve. I related that practices can set the stage for sustained growth when they operate from a well conceived strategy, based on a realistic vision for the practice, including budgeting appropriately for marketing (all flavors today from traditional PR {see Public Relations, Writing The New Release our new Special Report}to social must be considered given the practice and demographic). Each one of those points must be broken down and applied to the specific doctor(s) and practice. Profitability, on the other hand, in my view requires a careful analysis of each fixed and variable expense category and tying it to the real needs of the practice - not the needs of the doctor. This is a critical point that is often missed, profitability can suffer when decisions about what is needed in a practice are only weighed against what a doctor or group thinks they need Vs what is needed to maintain a practice for a given time horizon.

A Part Of History

Every once in a while every person has a chance to witness history or in rare cases be part of it. In my case, on Tuesday, 4/17/2012, it was pure happenstance that I was at Reagan National Airport waiting for a flight when the Shuttle Discovery took its final flight on a modified 747 on its way to the Smithsonian. What a site! What a great story! The plane caring Discovery went right in front of the east facing terminal windows. In the background was the Washington Monument and the US Capitol. The pilot took the plane on a journey around the area and people in the terminal took, I am sure, a million photos on cell phones! When you stop to think about it, there is history around every Doctor CEO and their practice. Doctors are part of their patient's history and vice versa. Making the most of every opportunity to serve your patients will make that shared history a great story too. Note photo courtesy of the NASA Photography Office.

Exceptional Doctor CEOs

Subscribers to the Smart Doctor CEO Coaching Newsletter this quarter are reading about the importance of PUSHing to achieve results. An important aspect of being a leader level Doctor CEO is to possess the attributes you need to be creditable when you seek to push your team's performance. The attributes are not hidden from view and can be learned and cultivated by any CEO. Take for example that many of the more recent bedrock generalized management and leadership literature tenets are now part of doctors approaches (or SHOULD be!). For instance, walking the walk, thinking outside the box, leading by vision and much more. In short, it is great to want to push your team, but you as the Doctor CEO must also push yourself to lead by example and weave into your practice the organizational tenets that have worked for a wide range of organizations. Check out Randall's Reading List (most also with an audio component for when you are in your car or exercising) for selections I have found that can help Doctor CEO's learn about and apply leadership literature.

Above and Beyond

This is one of the most hotly debated political years in recent memory. Of course, if you grew up in the 60's with police and street / campus antiwar demonstrations it is a bit tame by comparison. But just like that period, some prominent professionals in communities across the nation are stepping out front and letting their positions be known on the issues of the day including more government oversight or less, dramatic overhaul of our health care system or something less, more taxes to support various programs or less and many more issues. What is unusual to me is that doctors are voicing their opinions more than in the recent past. An example of a doctor going above and beyond just voicing an opinion to taking a stand and, in this case forming his own PAC(!), is Dr. Larry Kawa, a Boca Raton orthodontist with a very substantial practice. I have known and provided services to him for many years. With his PAC he is inviting referring doctors, and the community to come to events sponsored by the PAC and listen to speakers present their views. I attended one of his recent events featuring Eric Cantor, Majority Leader US Congress. Not every Doctor CEO feels comfortable being so public in their positions, but I encourage all leader level doctors to be involved sharing their views and taking a stand, particularly this election cycle. If you would like to discuss how you too can set up a PAC email Dr. Kawa at DrKawa@braces1.com.

Opportunity To Revitalize

In recent discussions with Doctor CEOs I have seen two responses to current events. First, doctors that continue to search for opportunity to grow the practice, despite current and past local, regional and national economic issues. Second, doctors that are hunkering down, hoping that things change but not working to change anything. As I mentioned in my Facebook note for this week, I am working with a Doctor CEO that is aggressively seeking growth, taking on practice locations that others have left for dead. As a result deals are being explored, new doctors to help with the locations are being sought and deepened connections with all kinds of local organizations and people are helping the doctor advance. Here's a suggestion for any doctor that thinks the way forward at this time is to do nothing: to improve your circumstance there is power in being on the move and a good planning session might just be the ticket

Success in Succession Planning

Here at Berning & Affiliates at this time of year we are immersed in succession planning for many of our long time client doctors and newer practices looking for guidance. So what are some of the success hallmarks that have worked so well in the past and that we continue to employ? First, we undertake to help Doctor CEOs qualify the prospect. It is remarkable what a difference in time and money for all concerned can be made by separating those prospects that fit with the practice philosophy and direction from those that don't. Second, we facilitate a discussion of expectations. I don't think this aspect can be overstated in its importance! Yet, most doctors (even current partners!) never dig deep to make sure that major and minor expectations can be met by a new doctor joining a practice. Third, we oversee all steps and assign as appropriate to local or larger firms the valuation, tax planning, legal and estate planning aspects. Check out our Qualify & Interview: How To Get The Right Match publication and our Expectations: Practice Owners and Prospective Associates Discussion Format to get an introduction to our perspective and lessons learned.

Oblivious In Paradise

"It was wonderful, a dream come true", the doctor stated to me during our consultation. He continued to share with me that his front desk ran exceptionally well and both front and back were synergistic. And then, after 14 years, the person who was largely responsible for all this, his long time practice administrator stated she was retiring, shortly. For purposes of this entry I've combined several doctor's situations to illustrate one big point, namely how exposed are you as the Doctor CEO to a key employee? In several instances the practices were running so well the doctor or group practices stopped giving a lot of attention to day to day activity and even watching how everything meshed between staff and other practice advisors. In short, they were so removed that when the key employee gave notice or suffered a major illness they were not prepared to maintain the practice efficiency or administrate the practice they owned. The suggestion is that each Doctor CEO evaluate whether and to what degree they have such an exposure. If an exposure is present, capture and document the position and performance aspects, some practice are doing so with short video clips. Further, designate an "understudy" a person or persons that can take over in full or in part in the event the key employee exits. If you want to discuss contingency planning initiatives for your practice, consider a Tackle It Consultation!