I was looking back over old posts and came across one written at the height, or depth (that’s my point), of the recession.
Times have changed, but for many medical groups economic challenges remain, some from the general economy and others from the tectonic changes within the industry that have taken place, are taking place, and will continue to take place.
The point I made back in 2008 remains true. Let other medical groups bemoan the bad situation they see themselves as in: The fact that they see themselves as commoditized. The fact that investor-owned businesses are the new competition. The fact that hospitals are increasingly showing themselves unworthy of trust. Instead, use your time to take advantage of the opportunities that are inherent within the creative destruction.
But to do so first requires that you shore up the structure within your group. You must develop strong bonds among the shareholders/partners as well as between the group and its providers. You must take steps to make certain that key individuals remain bound to the group.
You must create a compensation plan that rewards for the leadership efforts that will be required to expand the group’s thinking horizon and business opportunities.
You must drop the singular focus on easy business.
You must make the necessary investment to morph your medical group’s business, not just cut costs.
The key is not to devote efforts to complaining (it will do you no good, only harm) or to take actions to merely “survive” (the wrong focus entirely).
Instead, the key is to develop and implement strategies to thrive, to fill the vacuum that other medical groups’ failure and their blindness to opportunity will leave for you.
