Archive for February, 2012

Barb and I are both filling interim management positions within specialty practices right now. There’s simply so much to do that for many physicians, finding the time to fill a much-needed leadership role becomes yet another burden for their practice.

In my particular engagement, I’m not only recruiting for a new manager as a function of my interim management position, I’m also performing an operational assessment. It’s not really unusual to combine the two services. When key personnel leave, often the physician practice finds itself not only needing the role filled, but realizing how much more there is to be done – and sometimes wondering how that one person managed!

In this situation, my goal is to provide a thorough assessment of where the practice is operationally, providing a new manager:

1. The knowledge of where the medical practice stands, and
2. The basis on which to make appropriately prioritized recommendations for change.

Times of transition can be the perfect time to discover what needs improvement, what’s redundant, and even what’s potentially placing a practice at risk. From coding to reimbursement practices and systems, self-auditing for OSHA compliance and consistent HIPAA training, to patient safety and satisfaction, or looking at how the front desk can better support clinical staff – it’s all fair game.

Remember, even uncovering small issues can save physician practices significant time and money, improve quality and satisfaction, and perhaps reduce risk (non-compliance, coding or reimbursement errors). It all comes down to early discovery, corrective action and a can-do attitude toward multi-tasking!