Practice administration has several models to choose from that can all work well. Mid-sized practices (let’s say three to five providers) typically have a somewhat autonomous “administrator” who works closely with the practice owners or managing partner. They have some level of authority to make independent decisions within agreed parameters.
Larger practices (let’s call that six providers and more) typically employ “executive directors” (even CEOs) to manage the business, with more day-to-day decision-making autonomy and reporting to a board of directors. These senior leaders typically have advanced management skills, many years of experience and an internalized ambition to grow the company to the next level.
However, for smaller practices, the “MD as CEO” model is more common. A physician-owner is the leader, often supported by an “office manager” or high functioning “executive assistant” who has been with the practice for many years and is happy to follow the physician’s lead and day-by-day direction.
But whether you have a small, medium or large practice, you probably have a lay leader (whether they fall into the “assistant” or “CEO” ends of the spectrum) who could benefit from your direct coaching and support as a physician and business owner. Here are some of the approaches we use as executive coaches that you can adopt to help your practice’s managers improve their performance. As a practice owner or managing partner, here are eight exercises to do with your administrator. These drills will not only help improve your team’s management skills but also enhance your working relationship as business collaborators.
Administrator Exercises
1. Scenario-based planning. The objective is to develop advanced planning and decision-making skills. Exercise:
- Present your administrator with one or more hypothetical scenarios that could impact your practice, such as a sudden change in healt-hcare regulations, a new competitor in your market or a sizable drop in patient volume.
- Ask your administrator to outline a strategic response to each scenario, including immediate actions, long-term strategies, and any necessary risk management plans.
- Discuss the potential outcomes of each response and how to measure the success of these actions.
Tip: Use a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis framework for each scenario to ensure a comprehensive approach.
2. Conflict resolution role-playing. The objective is to enhance conflict resolution and negotiation skills. Exercise:
- Create role-playing scenarios where the administrator must mediate conflicts between different stakeholders, such as between ophthalmologists and support staff, or between patients and the practice.
- Include complex scenarios, such as disputes over resource allocation or differences in clinical opinions.
- After each role-play, provide feedback and discuss alternative approaches that could have been taken.
Tip: There are numerous approaches to conflict resolution. For starters, simply Google “conflict resolution.” Help your administrator understand different conflict-handling styles and when to apply each.
3. Data-driven decision making. The objective is to improve the ability to use data for making informed management decisions. Many practices make decisions based on “gut feelings” without collecting data that will help justify the decision quantitatively. Exercise:
- Provide your administrator with real practice data, such as patient appointment trends, billing efficiency information, or recent staff productivity metrics.
- Ask the administrator to analyze the data and make recommendations for improving one or more dimensions of practice efficiency, patient satisfaction, or revenue growth.
- Challenge them (and help them) to identify patterns, predict future trends, and develop action plans based on their findings.
Tip: A simple tool like Microsoft Excel can help with data visualization and analysis. This tool (and more advanced ones) can help turn raw data into actionable insights.
4. Technology integration. The objective is to enhance the ability to integrate new technologies within the practice. Exercise:
- Assign the administrator to research a recent technology relevant to ophthalmology practices, such as telemedicine platforms or advanced diagnostic tools that the providers are interested in adding.
- Request a proposal for integrating one of these technologies into the practice, including the cost-benefit analysis, an implementation plan,and training strategy.
- Encourage them to present their proposal to the practice’s leadership team and facilitate a discussion on the potential impact.
Tip: Provide access to project management software like Asana or Trello to help plan and track the technology integration process. Excel can be used here, too.
5. Patient experience improvement project. The objective is to improve patient satisfaction and practice reputation through targeted initiatives. Exercise:
- Task the administrator with leading a patient experience improvement project. This could involve redesigning the patient experience and flow, from the first phone call to post-treatment follow-up.
- Ask them to gather patient feedback through surveys or interviews and use this data to identify “pain points” in the current process.
- Develop and implement a plan to address these issues and measure the impact on patient satisfaction over time.
Tip: Don’t overthink patient satisfaction surveys. These can be as simple as calling five patients per physician per month and asking a few focused questions.
6. Advanced time management and delegation skills. The objective is to optimize time management and delegation skills for increased productivity. Exercise:
- Ask your administrator to conduct a personal time-and-activity audit over one week to track how they spend their time and identify areas where they could eliminate actions and delegate more effectively.
- Based on the audit, ask them to create a time management plan that prioritizes high-impact tasks and allocates time for long-range thinking and problem solving.
- Practice delegating specific responsibilities to other team members and setting clear expectations for outcomes.
Tip: Review the audited time study together line-by-line and agree on shifting responsibilities and some authority to mid-level managers that are ready for new tasks.
7. Financial acumen development. The objective is to enhance financial management skills for resource allocation and budgeting. Exercise:
- Provide your administrator with the most recent financial statements for the practice and ask them to analyze key metrics such as revenue growth, profit margins, and cost ratios. Depending on the experience and skills of your administrative, this may be too much of a leap and you have to start smaller by just sharing the documents and reviewing them together monthly.
- If the administrator is already prepared with solid financial skills, assign them to take the next step with what they know, such as creating a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, considering factors like expected patient volume, staffing needs, and equipment investments.
- Discuss in detail one or more strategies for optimizing the practice’s financial performance or improving billing efficiencies.
Tip: If your administrator is more of a “process manager” (responsible for handling smooth operations more than financial performance), teach them how to simultaneously be a “profit manager.”
8. Crisis management simulation. The objective is to prepare the administrator for handling unexpected crises in the practice. Exercise:
- Develop a crisis simulation exercise where the administrator must respond to a sudden emergency, such as a data breach, a critical staff shortage, or a public relations issue.
- During the simulation, present new challenges that require quick decision-making, effective communication and resource allocation.
- After the simulation, conduct a debrief to evaluate the administrator’s
response and identify areas for improvement.
Tip: Create a generic crisis management plan that can be applied to future urgencies.
Conclusion
These management skills exercises are designed to challenge ophthalmology practice administrators and provide them with new tools and techniques to enhance their effectiveness. By focusing on strategic planning, conflict resolution, data-driven decision-making, and other key areas, the administrator can develop into a more effective leader, capable of driving the practice’s success. Regularly incorporating these exercises into a manager’s professional development will ensure they continue to grow and adapt to the evolving demands of your practice. OM
