Communication and meetings: Make them work for you

In my previous life as a hospital administrator, the not-so-funny joke was that we were in meetings all day and did our “actual” work before and after work hours. Practically speaking, that had to happen because we were responsible for thousands of employees, patients and doctors. Directing and communicating information required functioning as a cohesive unit if we were to be successful as a large organization. And that ultimately meant nonstop meetings in order to acquire information and feedback, make decisions and disseminate the information.

In physician practice management, the scale is, of course, much smaller, but the role of successful communication is just as important. And although informal communication is prevalent in smaller settings and information often more easily attainable, it is formal communication and what follows that provides the accountability needed to assure action is being taken in a timely fashion.

Without this, your practice functions more like a family and less like a business, which means sometimes you are in control and sometimes you are not. Future practice success, as changes in the health care economic environment make what we do increasingly challenging, will require more fine-tuned goal setting and monitoring of outcomes.

Formal, regularly scheduled meetings don’t have to be long, complicated or an emotional drain. Set your meeting system (including written agendas) in a way that benefits you and your practice best, works with your personal style and is productive for reaching practice goals. It will be time well spent.

Committee membership and required meetings will vary depending on the size of your practice and associated managerial infrastructure. Here are examples of meeting structures you could find helpful:

Board/financial review – monthly
Administrator and managing partner – weekly
Administrator and department manager one-to-ones – two to four times a month, depending on experience and tenure within the practice
Department manager meetings including the administrator and managing partner – twice a month
Managing partner/administrator/employee doctor – quarterly
Department meetings run by manager with their own staff – monthly
All-hands general staff meeting (all together or via Skype) – three to four times a year
Committee meetings of all types (compliance, HIPAA, coding/chart review, financial/budget) – as required