STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Successfully positioning an anesthesia practice for long-term success can involve equal parts serendipity and insight. So many factors determine the viability and longevity of a particular group practice that it is not always easy to identify and prioritize the threats and opportunities, much less use this information to plot a workable strategic plan. Idiosyncratic organizational strengths and weaknesses tend to cloud objectivity. Given the history and nature of the specialty there is a tendency to downplay the power and potential value of planning.
The effects of inadequate strategic thinking are ubiquitous and demoralizing to providers who were trained to believe that all that mattered was quality care and good outcomes. Hospital Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for anesthesia services are on the rise. Practices that once enjoyed a good and productive working relationship with their administration are suddenly finding themselves displaced by organizations with more clout, better marketing and a more innovative and often cost-effective approach to the administration’s service requirements. It is as if those anesthesiologists who see themselves as captive to their environment are endorsing a self-fulfilling prophesy.
This need not be. ABC consultants have guided dozens of clients through the strategic planning process. This service may take a variety of forms. In some cases it involves the facilitation of a strategic planning session in which the group dedicates a day or more to the creation or refinement of a mission statement, a review of governance, compensation plan refinement, the review and evaluation of business opportunities or succession planning.
In other cases the service is ongoing and integral to a broader scope of practice management services. Typically, key business metrics are established to facilitate the ongoing assessment or profitability of the practice as a whole and the detailed evaluation of individual lines of business. ABC practice managers will routinely help clients identify opportunities for expansion and or diversification.
In either scenario ABC clients benefit from the company’s years of experience, diverse client base and expert practice managers and consultants. What distinguishes ABC’s provision of this service is its integration with our practice management. We have an extensive and relevant database of benchmarks and examples to base our recommendations on.
