Problem-solving and decision-making are key skills every practice administrator and managing partner must excel in for a practice to be successful. Each decision you make, ranging from no-show policies and care pathways to optical vendors and refraction fees, impacts your practice’s reputation and financial trajectory. We often hear from client practices that they didn’t realize the impact that poor decision-making was having on their practice until there was a leadership change (for example, a new managing partner, administrator, or department manager).
Many factors contribute to the complexity of making sound decisions and solving problems effectively. Here are 6 of the most common challenges practices and their leaders face, and how they can be addressed.
1. Emotional Influences
The stressors of a busy office, high patient expectations, and manager workload pressure can cloud judgment and have a significant impact on the quality and timeliness of decision-making and problem-solving. An office full of drama affects your practice in ways you may not have thought about.
Schedule regular meetings to provide managers, doctors, and staff opportunities to share ideas, solutions, and potential barriers to solving problems. This includes weekly management team meetings, monthly department meetings, monthly physician meetings, and a weekly meeting between the managing partner and the administrator. Including a wider cross section of stakeholders helps you eliminate bias and make better decisions.
Focus on facts. Collect only the data you need to make decisions. Use this objective data to support (or not) the more subjective information you have on the topic. Applying this approach helps to shed distractions and gain buy-in, leading to better solutions.
2. Information Overload
On the other hand, collecting and reviewing vast amounts of data can lead to decision fatigue and “paralysis by analysis.” In medicine (a field jam-packed with data), doctors and managers can be intellectually drawn to interesting yet extraneous information flowing from practice-management systems. To avoid overwhelm, only gather and review information germane to the decision at hand. Streamlining the data makes decision-making more efficient and effective.
3. Group Dynamics and Conflict
Collaborative decision-making between managers from different departments, and between managers and physicians, can be challenging due to differing priorities. What works for one department or provider may negatively impact workflow or workload for another.
An effective way to approach these situations is to gather the widest possible cross section of people who are affected by the problem and will be impacted by any decisions about it. With one leader running the meeting, all attendees will have an opportunity to hear the issues, the possible solutions, and how those solutions may impact others. This method improves communication and alignment. Rather than stakeholders only hearing, “The decision is…,” every area of your practice now understands why the selected solution was the best one possible, even if it was not ideal for everyone.
4. Time Constraints and Pressure
Busy patient schedules, emergency work-ins, patient-flow challenges, staff shortages, and limited space can create the false impression that “We don’t have time for meetings or collecting data.” Even if a practice must reduce the patient schedule occasionally or pay overtime to hold early or late staff meetings, taking the time to identify and solve problems will ultimately save time by making the practice more efficient.
Billing departments can be especially susceptible to the “not enough time” way of thinking. Typically, meetings and policy review can be infrequent because everyone is working flat out to post, submit, and collect. When was the last time you checked current collections and write-off policies and their implementation to maximize fee recovery? How often do you compare explanations of benefits to fee schedule contracts? Routine billing department meetings provide a forum for greater efficiency.
5. Technology Integration and Adaptation
Implementing and keeping up with new diagnostic tools, rigorous health record standards, and soon, new AI-assisted technology presents challenges. Some practices regret the limited time they spent up front on decision-making when switching to new technology, realizing that they spent more time after the decision had been made identifying and solving problems that could have been avoided. Even if yours is a small practice without a formal technology department or even a part-time, on-site tech, adopt the discipline of periodic meetings to ask, “Are we harnessing all the benefits of technology that we should?”
6. Patient Satisfaction and Customer Service
Prioritizing customer service and keeping patients happy can be difficult. Even the best practices occasionally let their standards slip. Yet, over the years, patient expectations have risen; in major markets, if those expectations are not met, patients may choose to find a new practice. We frequently observe practices making decisions that do not prioritize patient benefit, but rather are focused on staff and doctor convenience. You may find that your decisions and policies about patient scheduling and distribution are less patient-centered than they should be.
Awareness of Obstacles Is Critical
Problem-solving and decision-making are essential skills for practice management leaders. Recognizing and addressing any obstacles to making informed and effective decisions can lead to more informed, effective choices, ultimately improving patient satisfaction, operational efficiency, and financial success in your practice. OM
