In Practice

Q I In Practice

Scan the Horizon, See the Future!

By Kathy Hunt, Executive Director, Hunt & Associates

One of the more useful aspects of strategy and planning is the process of environmental scanning. Thomas Edison University defines Environmental Scanning as the process of processing information about events and relationships within an organization’s internal and external environments. For a physician practice, the practical question could be: When is the last time you took a deep breath and slowed down to scan your internal and external environment for trends, changes, even disruptions that might alter your current plans? Environmental Scanning uses trended analysis of history to project the future. And as they say about history, if we don’t study it we are doomed to repeat it.

With respect to internal environments, several key variables come to mind as most important. Physician and provider age and future capacity are key to sustainability and success. In addition, physical office space and how it is deployed for revenue generation are key questions. Gone are the days that non-revenue generating space can be coveted and protected. Financial and clinical trends should be measured and understood so that a relevant self-assessment can truly guide the physician or practice leader. Internal environments are the harder side to understand in my opinion. Why? Because no one writes articles about them. Few practices study themselves. Even fewer act on what they find. It’s the timely execution of strategy that drives results and the bottom line in business. The local and State Medical Society, MGMA and your Academy or Specialty Society can provide excellent benchmarking information to guide a true environmental scan of your practice. Remember, what is measured can be managed.

The external environment is often more easily determined, especially if you know where to look. We operate in the healthcare industry, about which much is known. Check. We operate in the Mid-South region, of which much is known. Check. We know much about demographic changes (Bulletin: People getting older!), reimbursement changes (Bulletin: Medicare office visit rates just went way up!), payer mix changes and technology changes. Check. This information is out there and available. We just must gather it and use it in our environmental scan and to further evaluate our current and future plans. It’s this kind of information that can offer leadership a much greater chance of success.

Speaking of leadership, a question might be whose job is it to gather and scan information for relevant changes to our strategies? The answer is BOTH the physician(s) and the individuals they choose to lead their businesses. If neither are capable nor have the time, then get help. This kind of work and planning does not happen on its own. It must be intentional. And it should be done periodically, but not less than every two years.

Q I In Practice

This river of change in healthcare is picking up speed. Practices will continue to face demographic shifts, new rivals, new technologies, new regulations, and other environmental changes that will seem to come out of left field. But did they? Often not. What is on the horizon, seen through the binoculars, will be staring you in the face soon.

Will you be ready?

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