Let’s talk about contingency fees. No, not contingency fees in the sense of a personal injury or a medical malpractice lawyer. And no, not contingency fees in the sense of the type of contingent and blended fee deals that I do on transactions with clients from time to time.
Instead, I want to talk about you being on a contingency fee.
I certainly know that my audience is comprised chiefly of physician leaders, as well as the owners of healthcare facilities who don’t consider themselves on contingency unless you do some workers’ compensation work — which is sometimes a form of contingency work.
But what I’m talking about is a contingency mindset.
How would you conduct yourself and your practice/business if you were compensated only for a successful outcome? For purposes of this mind experiment, this thinking tool, it doesn’t matter how you measure “success.” It could be a happy patient, it could be a successful treatment or successful procedure, it doesn’t matter. But if that were the case, that you were only paid upon “success,” how would you organize things and operate differently?
It seems simple. It seems like it is a game. But think about it, because the reality is that you are on that contingency basis. Referral sources could leave you and facilities can terminate your contract. Patients could walk for someone across the hall or across town.
So spend some time thinking about it: How would you reorder your business, your practice, and your relationships, if the only way that you got paid was based on a successful outcome?
