Think Business! Medical Practice Quality, Efficiency, Profits 2nd Edition
If you own, run, or have anything to do with a medical practice, you must read this book.
Also available as Kindle
If you own, run, or have anything to do with a medical practice, you must read this book.
Thousands of physicians and practice managers have relied on the previous edition of this book. In this revised and updated 2nd Edition, nationally recognized expert, Owen Dahl, provides the vital information that top business schools teach. Think Business! is designed for the busy professional as a “mini-MBA” for the medical practice environment.
Read more Read less
Written in a clear style, the revised edition covers the changes occurring in healthcare and reimbursement including the move from volume to “value.” All examples and content relate to the daily operations and activities that occur in a healthcare practice.
Added for this Edition!
Where to look first to control costs? We'll give you the first 3 places to look
Complete overhaul of the Finance section
MACRA, MIPS, PQRS, VBPM – Alphabet Soup
How much does it cost you to see a patient? (cost differentials of new patient vs. established patient, one office vs. another office, one provider vs. another provider...
Step-by-step guide to revenue cycle management (RCM)
What is the expected profit margins on certain patient services?
Basics of a strong compliance policy
Risk Management: choose the MedMal policy right for you
Volume to Value-based reimbursement
How Scenario Planning works well in a medical practice
Quadrant matrix to aid in decisions regarding ancillaries
Tips on benchmarking the practice
Avoiding risk of embezzlement
Coaching behaviors
Managing multi-generational teams
BONUS: Case studies that illustrate the change to pay-for-performance, risk management, ACA impact.
Today the practice of medicine must be recognized as a business. No longer can the business of the medical practice be based on the intuition of the physician or office manager.
“If you didn’t get to business school, don’t worry,” says Owen Dahl. “ I unravel the mysteries behind the various management theories – and then I provide detail as a playbook for today’s medical practice. This book is the inside scoop on the must-have information you need to evaluate the finances and business health of the practice. And if you do have your MBA, these practical applications for medicine will reinforce what you already know.”
Filled with winning techniques -- With Think Business! 2nd Edition, You will learn:
Financial fundamentals – how to keep tabs on the practice
Employees as assets: How to recruit and retain them
How to differentiate your practice from your competition
Setting the stage for pay-for-performance and quality of care
Why individual physicians – and their executive staff should care about satisfied patients and quality outcomes
Motivate employees to build great teams; it’s not only about money!
Packed with plenty of take-home value, you can count on Owen Dahl to provide you with the language, the players, and the management techniques to ensure success in your practice. His energy and sense of purpose translates into winning techniques and illustrative case studies. Refer to Think Business! often for specific strategies you can implement in your practice today. Improve your bottom line, comply with pay-for-performance, and increase the patient satisfaction in your practice.
About the author
Owen J. Dahl, MBA, LFACHE, CHBC , is a principal of Owen Dahl Consulting, in The Woodlands, Texas, and the author of Think Business! Medical Practice Quality, Efficiency, Profits, 2nd Edition, a guide to applying business fundamentals to the practice of medicine. His second book is an eBook complete with template, Medical Practice Disaster Planning Guide. He also is the contributing author of the popular books, Lean Six Sigma for the Medical Practice and Integration of Behavioral Health into Medical Homes: A Rapid Implementation Guide.
A nationally-known speaker on strategic planning, Lean and Six Sigma, culture, human resource management, and the revenue cycle, Owen is also an independent consultant with the Medical Group Management Association, MGMA. Owen’s passion for education inspired him to become an adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans and the University of Houston, as well as developing certification programs for major medical societies.
Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Are you a Business?
- The life cycle of a business and why the medical practice is no different.
- 2. Planning
- How to put together a strategic plan, vision and mission statements, value statements, SWOT, Scenario Planning.
- 3. Quality
- Measurement and quality of care including structure, process, and patient outcomes.
- 4. Human Resources
- Employees as assets, recruitment and retention of staff members, managing multi-generational teams.
- 5. Process, Systems, and Efficiency
- “Lean” thinking, elements of Six-Sigma, how to benchmark the practice, how to measure and analyze.
- 6. Marketing
- The marketing plan in today's environment, impact of online reputation for physicians and the practice, the patient in the decision-making process.
- 7. Financial Management
- How much does it cost to see a patient? The bottom line. Statements and reporting to upper management, external activity, sources of funding.
- 8. Compliance and Risk Management
- Elements of a solid compliance plan, evidence-based incident report, malpractice insurance strategies, accreditation.
- 9. Knowledge Management and Decision Sytems
- Knowledge workers = staff members. Each employee must add value to the process. Decsion-making best practices for your team.
- 10. Change Management
- The Why and What of Change. Is your team ready? Tips for change manager or leader.
- 11. Case Studies
- Bonus! Creative problem-solving that ties together the ideas in the book. These will challenge your thought process!
- 12. The Future of Your Business
- Avoiding the 5 Deadly Sins. Safeguarding the business of the medical practice. A view of the physician practice of the future.
- APPENDIX: Key Equations
- Index
Words of praise
This book is one of my all time favorites. It succinctly covers all aspects and principles of what it takes to be a successful business. Yes, a medical practice is a REAL business!
Practice management is a more difficult business than other kinds of services because of higher expectations, higher risks, and an adversarial payment environment. A professional approach is needed to market to patients, manage and motivate staff, handle office processes and technology, maintain compliance, and most importantly, get paid in full and on time. Yet medical schools do not prepare physicians with adequate skills to succeed in business. If you don't have the time for an MBA program and you don't have access to trustworthy consultants or reliable outsourced service providers, then this book is for you. Invest the time it takes you to read this book back into your daily practice. If you get through this book in fifteen hours, and if you use just three ideas out of hundreds, and if each one idea saves you just 1/100th of your daily working time and effort--that will be a savings of 60 hours per year, or a net annual profit on time invested of 300%. Do you know of any other investment that nets you 300% annually? Yuval Lirov, Medical Billing Networks and Processes - Profitable and Compliant Revenue Cycle Management in the Internet Age
