Healthcare Financial Management (HFM) Magazine wrote an article in their April 2014 issue titled “Hospital-Owned Medical Practices – Gaining the Benefits Without the Losses.” After reading the HFM piece last week, I decided to share it with you in this blog entry.
The author, Marc D. Halley, begins by explaining the challenges that hospital-owned physician practices face today. However, he clearly notes that the financial losses these practices have experienced “are not an inviolate cost of doing business.” With the right strategies, he explains, any hospital can turn their medical practice into a profitable and successful operation.
Mr. Halley proceeds to list and explain 11 strategies that hospital leaders can use for successful management of their own practices. Some of the areas that CFOs and other leaders alike should focus on the most include the “Avoidance of bad deals,” “Performance expectations,” “Operational processes” and “Engaged physicians.”
“Organizations that treat physicians like employees usually have physicians who act like employees, whereas organizations that manage to engage clinicians as business partners have found the source of a sustainable competitive advantage.”
There were two points most critical for hospital leaders to take away from this HFM article. The first being that there is no secret ingredient to turning a struggling medical practice around,which was concluded with the second point – carrying out these strategies is critical, but success all depends on the willingness of the leadership to work as a team and be on the same page.
Somnia Anesthesia has been working with hospitals and physician practices since 1996. We have encountered quality problems of all shapes and sizes and we understand the struggles that hospital leaders face when competing with privately owned practices.
After reading this article, I would only add one point: Be sure that any anesthesia services operating in your hospital’s physician practice is operating at peak efficiency and not creating any losses financially. Anesthesia is essential to any operation whether it be a hospital’s OR, a hospital-owned medical practice, or a privately-owned outpatient facility. That is where we come in as one of the leading national anesthesia management companies in the nation. You can learn more about our hospital expertise and services here.
That being said, my colleagues and myself truly found this article as a critical read and we highly recommend it to all hospital leadership. We hope you find it as informative and helpful as we hav