Getting through your day as the practitioner, putting one foot in front of another, seeing each patient and doing what’s required, dealing with issues that come flying at you from staff, patients, and phone calls, going home late and having a late supper and kissing the kids goodnight … hey, this is just a normal day for a lot of people. What else is new?! And this continues day after day and week after week.
But is that good enough for you? Is that just the way it has to be or can something be done about it to change it up and make it better?
Take Control
The problem above is that there seems to be no goals nor strategy for how to change things up. They’re not going to change unless something different is done to MAKE things change. And if you are the owner of the practice, then you are the person who has to MAKE things change. Seems obvious, right?
To accomplish changes in a practice, you as the owner must decide what needs changing.
For example:
- You don’t like your hours? Well, what would suit you best?
- You want your practice to be busier? What do you need to do to accomplish that?
- You have staffing difficulties? What can be done to sort that out?
- You feel there are inefficiencies and you could see more patients if the practice ran more efficiently? What’s the solution for that?
- You feel stressed all the time? Who is giving you the stress and what can you do to handle that? If it isn’t a “who” then “what”?
- You don’t know exactly what goals you should shoot for? Start talking to colleagues who have bigger practices and see what they are doing.
Time to Strategize
Now it’s time to write up a step-by-step strategy of how to make those changes in order to reach the ideal practice that really works for you. It is YOUR business and YOUR patients, so you need to strategize how to have it be the way YOU want it so you have a happy life and your patients get awesome care and service. Your staff will be happier too if they have a happy boss and clear directions as to improvements and changes.
The Carrot
There must be a “carrot” or reward for getting the steps of the strategy done by everyone. Games are very important to make work more fun!
Obviously, the BIG carrot is a growing, productive, profitable practice that is efficient and on the hours that suit your life and family.
Quit with the Willy Nilly Management and take control. Do the above and win!
