Ring
in the New Year with New Resolutions
It's a new year, a new you, so why shouldn't your physician relations
program receive the same attention? Each new year we take the
time to assess our personal goals and craft resolutions; we make
a commitment to reform an old habit that we hope will be advantageous.
For many of us, this includes some way of becoming healthier.
Consider applying this concept to your physician relations program.
What resolutions should be made to reform it, whether the goal
is to remain viable during these difficult times or to launch
a newly invigorated program in 2010?
In this issue, we offer three features to help you understand
the importance of assessing your program, helpful tips for where
to begin and how to achieve a full assessment for your individual
program, and an update from our client spotlight—proof that achieving
a goal is powerful. |
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| How
Healthy is Your Physician Relations Program? |
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Why an Assessment
Should Be an Integral Part of Your Strategy
Whether they view physicians as partners or customers,
savvy hospitals recognize an old truism in an ongoing
relationship: Hospitals need physicians more than
physicians need them. Thus, hospitals must make a
dedicated, consistent effort to manage that increasingly
critical relationship.
The scales have been tipping toward this new reality.
Healthcare industry changes have left more physicians
dissatisfied and more hospitals seeking new revenue
to offset declining reimbursements. Reduced income,
malpractice risks, payer market shifts and managed
care headaches have led to a growing professional
unhappiness that affects the physician-hospital relationship.
Meanwhile, physicians have more options for referrals.
They can keep procedures within their offices; turn
to new outpatient or specialty services that provide
convenience for physicians and their patients. That
increased competition intensifies financial pressures
on hospitals and exacerbates the already tense relationship
between hospital and physician.
Read
the complete article >>
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| Assessing
Your Sales Force |
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Is your sales effort
effective and efficient? Are your salespeople willing
to go the extra mile to get the sale? What can a sales
manager do to improve outcomes? Where and how do you
begin to assess your team?
If you're responsible for the management of the sales
effort within your healthcare organization, you probably
are asking yourself these questions on a regular basis.
One way to assess the current situation, to plan for
improvement and to trend achievement is to use the following
evaluation tool:
Read
the complete article >> |
Client
Spotlight Update
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Update: Issue Resolution
at Miami Valley Hospital: Having a System Can Really
Work!
In our last issue, we reported that Miami Valley Hospital
(MVH) in Dayton, Ohio, set a goal for 2007 to make a
real and significant impact upon their declining physician
satisfaction scores in the areas of relationship, communication
and trust with administration. Through their assessment,
they discovered that one of the key drivers of physician
dissatisfaction—and hence the lack of relationship—was
the absence of a resolution process to address and resolve
issues.
Since implementing a new process, their most
recent survey scores in December 2009 show significant
improvement: Physician Satisfaction ranked in the 81st
percentile of all facilities and 90th percentile for
500+ bed hospitals.
We congratulate Miami Valley Hospital for focusing on
the physician as customer, setting and achieving a goal,
and implementing an issue resolution process that is
making a difference.
Read
the complete article >>
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7 Steps for Staying
Focused During an Assessment
A successful physician relations program takes
an ongoing commitment from everyone in your organization.
Make a commitment this year to follow these 7
steps to ensure your program stays fresh:
- Review and assess
the original goals of the program.
- Closely align
your program with the organization’s overall
business strategy.
- Forecast the
results and ROI that your program could provide
to key initiatives.
- Establish an
implementation and work plan.
- Fine-tune the
sales plan and fill the funnel.
- Revisit your
approach for keeping Leadership and other
internal stakeholders informed.
- Try something
different. Look for new ways to advance the
relationships.
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Ensure that your assessment
is a success.
- Detail your program's
current goals, roles and outcomes. Review
the reasons for initiating the program together
with changes to strategy, structure and rationale,
coupled with your key findings to date.
- Make certain
you don’t manipulate the numbers or perceptions
to justify your original strategy. Stay objective.
- Recognize that
data will never be perfect. If you've neglected
to do a plan because your physician data
was suspect, do the plan now—even if you
only have six months or a year of reliable,
physician-specific data.
- Don't be tempted
to take shortcuts just because you already
have a program in place. You’ll gain more
by deliberately moving through the process
and taking time to consider each step.
- Now is your opportunity
to share the plan with key people on your
team. This is the time to strengthen relationships
internally by giving others a chance to give
their input.
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Looking
Forward to Our Next Issue:
- Now That You've Assessed, Let's Implement:
Learn
Some Implementation How To's
- Case Study: How to Assess Your Program and Implement
for Results
- Retention and Recruitment
- Other Tools and Tips
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Looking for a training session or speaker for your hospital? CHG has a team of specialists for customer service and experience,
sales and business development and organizational strategic thinking.
Visit www.corporatehealthgroup.com or call 1-888-334-2500.
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To
view all CHG newsletters, please click here
Share your feedback with
us. What do you want to know more about? What are
some of the issues you're facing? Your comments will
help us zone in on the physician topics of interest
to you as we prepare our next issue. |
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