Physicians Practice - October 2008 - (Page 61)

THE ADMINISTRATOR’S DESK WHAT’S YOUR MISSION? WHY YOUR PRACTICE NEEDS A MISSION STATEMENT AND HOW TO WRITE AND IMPLEMENT ONE B Y S H E L LY K . S C H WA R T Z About a year after Susan Miller joined Family Practice Associates as the new ofﬁce administrator, she made the executive decision to close the ofﬁce for a day. All members of the staff, physicians and clerks included, were to attend an off-site planning meeting to create a road map for future growth. “We had just grown to three providers, and we really hadn’t done any work up to then in terms of looking ahead to where the practice would be going,” she recalls. Miller. The one-sentence statement included carefully phrased goals such as “taking care of families in the community,” “treating patients as individuals,” and “providing services in a cost effective manner.” “That was 1992,” says Miller. “We’ve revisited it several times since then, but it really hasn’t changed.” Over the years, the practice (which has since grown to 12 providers) has explored a variety of new services and locations. “Each time we look at something like that,” says Miller, “we have exist,” he says. “What happens is the efﬁciency of decision making and the trajectory of the practice over the first five years is much different than if you’d established a mission that drives each and every person in that practice.” DEFINING YOUR DIRECTION IDENTIFY YOUR GOALS “One of the biggest errors we see made among medical practices is that they think for some reason because it’s healthcare there’s no need to have a direction or mission for why they exist.” to test it back against our original mission statement and ask ourselves, ‘Does this match? Does this make sense?’” That process, says Tannus Quatre, a principal with the healthcare consulting ﬁrm Vantage Clinical Solutions in Bend, Ore., is what helped Miller’s practice succeed. “One of the biggest errors we see made among medical practices is that they think for some reason because it’s healthcare there’s no need to have a direction or mission for why they Tannus Quatre, consultant The staff split into two groups. The physicians stayed with Miller to create a mission statement and discuss long-range plans for the Lexington, Ky.-based practice. A local professor was brought in to conduct a customer service seminar for the staff during the ﬁrst half of the day, and help them create their mission statement in the afternoon. “After we came back together as a group, we looked at both mission statements, took the best from both, and combined them into one,” says WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM A mission statement is a written document that summarizes who you are as a practice, and as a member of the community you serve. It speaks to the physicians’ core identity and reminds them why they are in medical practice to begin with. “It’s like your brand,” says Cindy Dunn, senior consultant for the Medical Group Management Association. “It’s the thing that makes your practice unique and the reason you come into the ofﬁce every day.” As it is for Family Practice Associates, your mission statement should also be something your physician shareholders refer back to when contemplating a shift in direction. For example, if your mission is to better serve your community, you’ll likely want to incorporate some element of pro bono care. “That way, if one of the partners is looking to expand into an afﬂuent suburb, you can all go back to the original mission and decide whether or not that move supports your mission,” says Quatre. “If it doesn’t, you can either scrap the idea or change the direction of the ship a little by adjusting your mission statement. But make sure it’s guiding the entire practice and that everyone is on board.” HOW TO WRITE IT Before you begin drafting a mission statement, or while you’re revising OCTOBER 2008 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | 61 http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

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Physicians Practice - October 2008 Contents Another Reason to Go Cash-Only? Letters How ’Bout Them Gas Prices? Second Opinion: Oh, Canada! Noteworthy Cover Story: Fixing the Leaks: How to Tighten Your Money Spigot Navigating a Lawsuit Ask the Experts The Administrators Desk: What’s Your Mission? EMR: Help or Hindrance? Dealing with Dr. Dangerous E-Mail Abuse Primer The Road to EMR Interoperability Don’t Let Staff Costs Stifle Profits Coding Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - October 2008

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