Why are group-physician relationships so complicated when the rules are so simple?
Timing Exclusive Contract Negotiation
When’s the right time to begin negotiating the next renewal of your exclusive contract? When I asked this question at a national conference of medical group leaders, the majority response was from three to four months prior to the end of the current contact term; a few outliers said 6 months and one, out of…
You Are Not a Service
Running a hospital based group as “service” for the hospital, functioning as a sort of clearinghouse for income and expenses, severely limits your group’s future. It limits the willingness, and the ability, of your group to pursue outside opportunities. That’s chiefly because there is tremendous pressure to pass through to the owner, and often to…
Same Company. Two Different Experiences. One Big Failure.
I recently read that taken together, the value of all airline shares from the beginning of the industry to date would be a net loss. Is anyone surprised? On two recent connecting flights on the same airline, the customer experience was so wildly different that you’d think they were not only different companies, but on…
Do You See Your Group As It Is or As You Wish It Were? – Podcast
The first step in establishing your group’s future is telling the truth about its present.
The (Not So) Obvious Alternative to Cutbacks
The economy is in shambles and some say we’re headed into a double dip recession. The Medicaid population is growing and the ranks of well insured are declining. As Baby Boomers age, the Medicare population is growing. If yours is an average group, you’re doing more work for less pay. Chances are, you’re being asked…
Right Sized Group
Some see the future for hospital based groups in the context of large versus small, often stating that groups need to merge to achieve significant size or simply sell out to so-called national groups. It not clear whether “sell out” means to be acquired or is simply a colloquial expression. But large groups are like walruses…
Using (and Used By) Public Information
What do you know, really know, about the people you do business with? For example, about your employees, subcontractors and the CEOs of the hospitals you deal with. A few years ago a friend, let’s call him “C,” told me the following story: C’s son, attending college in the East, was looking for a new…
Can You Flip the Switch – From Physician to Group Business Leader?
Top students quickly figure out that getting A’s requires delivering what the teacher is looking for, whether answers on tests or responses to questions asked aloud in class — they focus on the “correct” answer. Setting aside the question of regurgitation versus critical thinking, top students focus on getting the answer right, on not making…
The Traitorous Healthcare Collaborator
What the term really means is let the hospital hold all the money, let the hospital decide who gets to render the care, and let the hospital decide what those providers should be paid.