Private Practice Success Newsletter

August 2007, by Lynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC (Master Certified Coach)
www.privatepracticesuccess.com

Taking Leadership, Part 3

For the past several months in this newsletter, I have been trying to heighten your awareness about the need to take leadership of your practice so that you stay ahead of the difficult, fluctuating economy.

Leadership includes evaluating your business model, to position your services and operate your practice in a way that helps you not only survive, but ultimately thrive.

In past newsletters I have explored two business models: Boutique Practice (a business model based on specialized service and high income clientele) and Retail Clinic (where targeting a reasonable price point and creating volume spell profitability.) To see past issues, go to the newsletter index at: http://lists.webvalence.com/sites/PrivatePracticeSuccess/current.html

This month, we look at the Micropractice, a way to stay small -- easily and profitably. Also, please scroll down to see our new teleclass offerings as well as the workshops I am giving in Australia.

The Lean, Mean Micropractice!

This month’s business model is offered by my colleague, Charles Scot Giles. Scot is a Board Certified Chaplain and well-known Hypnotherapist and has a diversified practice filled with teaching, training, counseling, and coaching. He also developed a program of medical hypnotism for the treatment of cancer that is in use at La Grange Memorial Hospital in Illinois.

Scot has a "micropractice," which the Wall Street Journal (2/23/2007) describes as a way that doctors can think small and old-fashioned, but with a twist. As one practitioner interviewed by the Journal puts it, a micropractice is “a Norman Rockwell practice with a 21st century backbone.”

Here is Scot, in his own words, explaining his how this kind of practice works:

Talking a year ago with a physician friend about how I run my practice, I was surprised when he told me there was a name for what I’m doing. “You’re running a micropractice,” he said. “What’s more, more and more physicians are doing the same.” So I decided to learn more about it and improve my game.

A micropractice isn’t really new at all. It’s an updating of a successful the old model of a doctor working out of a limited space, giving people the time they need, answering phone calls personally and offering quick appointments to those who call.

The way a contemporary micropractice differs is that it uses 21st century technology to eliminate all or most staff, and to cut through the paperwork that caused most doctors to leave solo practice. As a result the overhead is low. This allows you to spend more time with people and less time on administration.

The real source of wealth and capital in this new era is not material things...it is the human mind, the human spirit, the human imagination, and our faith in the future. (Steve Forbes)

When I entered community ministry (the ecclesiastical name for what I do) I made myself a promise that I was not going to let my practice grow to the point where I would have to move it to a professional building, hire staff, etc.

I use technology to do things that in other practices are done with staff. Computers do my accounting, billing, record-keeping, scheduling and keep me current on research. I use waiting lists when I must, and I’m always looking for ways to streamline (called “continuous flow processing”). I keep my practice lean and personal.

It’s worked for me. Because I have tight control of overhead, I’ve not had to raise my rates in years. I can usually get new people in within a reasonable time, and I’ve always got room to accommodate emergencies or special circumstances for established clients. Despite the fact that I give away a lot of what I do in free programs, my paying client schedule remains comfortable and I do fine.

Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking. (Anita Roddick)

The concept of a micropractice comes out of a project supported by Dartmouth Clinical Microsystems and is based on the work of Gordon Moore, M.D. The hallmarks of a micropractice are:

1) Very low overhead. The notion is to learn how to do as much as you can by yourself so you do not have to hire staff nor pay other providers. This means you keep more of what you earn, and can have better balance in your life by not having to see so many clients to cover your costs. You maximize your net earnings even though your gross earnings might be less than your competition.

2) High technology. You use 21st century technology to do things that are traditionally done by staff. You use voice mail, email, web sites and computerized practice management and record-keeping software. I keep a high speed document scanner on my desk. The office is basically paperless. Anything that needs to be stored is quickly scanned and attached to the client’s chart. The original document goes into the shredder. The computer backs itself up to a removable hard disk system every night.

As I run on Macintosh computers I use iCal, Address Book, MYOB Accounting, TypeIt4me, and a Pages template, all linked together by Spotlight, a feature of the Apple OS X operating system. This combined with Adobe Acrobat (which allows me to digitally “sign” documents and lock them against changes) gives me a bullet-proof custom system that works perfectly.

3) Unfettered access. This means you make it as easy as possible for clients to get hold of you. A number of micropractice physicians actually offer same-day appointments. While I can’t do that, I update my voice mail message each day telling people when to expect my return call, and I allow established clients (who typically only need to reach me for something quick, such as checking an appointment time) to call me on my cell phone.

A sly rabbit will have three openings to its den. (Chinese Proverbs)

The micropractice model uses something called “continuous flow processing” as much as possible. A continuous flow process is one that you do, start-to-finish, in one quick process. Complex projects are broken down into smaller steps, each one of which is a continuous flow process. You always try to do today’s work today.

The best way to understand this is by comparing it to what it is not. The opposite of continuous flow processes is known as “batch and queue.” If you open a letter, read it, mark your answers in the margin with a pen, put it in a new envelope and mail it back to the sender, that’s a “continuous flow” process. If you open a letter, skim it, put it in a thick file of “Letters to Answer” and make a note to look at it later, that’s a “batch and queue” process.

It took a while for me to get used to continuous flow processes but they work like a charm. My bulging ticker file is much thinner, my call back list is tiny and people keep saying “I can’t imagine how you get so much done.”

The benefit of all this is that I have a nice practice, a good income, balance in my life that lets me enjoy my marriage, my martial arts practice, my spirituality, my cooking hobby, and still have time to do a lot of volunteer work for the National Guild of Hypnotists and charity work. I keep looking for ways to make it better, but it’s pretty good now.

(Reprinted by permission. Copyright © 2006, Charles Scot Giles. All rights reserved. My thanks to Scot for his generosity in sharing this business model. To contact Scot, visit his eye-catching website at: www.csgiles.org To read more about the Ideal Micropractice Project, go to: www.idealmicropractice.org. And if any other reader has a unique business model to share, please send it on!)

Next month: The Component Model.

Upcoming Workshops

September 2007: Australia!

Please join me for my signature workshop, designed to help you take the steps and make the changes that result in your ideal practice. I haven’t presented in Australia since 2002, so this is a rare opportunity for us to work together!

“Success in Private Practice: A 2-Day Workshop":

Melbourne
Royce Hotel
379 St Kilda Road
3-4 September, 2007

Brisbane
Bardon Conference Centre
390 Simpsons Road Bardon
6 -7 September, 2007

Sydney
MGSM CBD Campus
Level 6
51 - 57 Pitt Street
10 -11 September, 2007

For information and dates, go to: http://kassanevents.com.au and ask about their special price for readers of this newsletter. Register soon and take action this year!

October 12, 2007: Toronto, ON
"Private Practice Success"
Leading Edge Seminars
Contact: info@leadingedgeseminars.org

October 13, 2007: Toronto, ON
"Integrating Coaching Into Your Practice"
Leading Edge Seminars
Contact: info@leadingedgeseminars.org

New Teleclasses Start in October

Who do you need to become and what do you need to understand in order to build the practice you want? Our teleclasses can help you get started now!

Basic Strong Start

A) Mondays at 2:00 PM EST or
B) Wednesdays at 3:00 PM EST

Advanced Strong Start

C) Tuesdays at 12:00 PM EST or
D) Thursdays at 1:00 PM EST

For information, dates & times, policies, or to register go to:
strongstartclasses.com

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Books by Lynn Grodzki, published by WW Norton. To order, click on each book.

	The Business and Practice of Coaching By Lynn Grodzki and Wendy Allen (2005) Reviewed by author Richard Leider as "Nothing less than a radical rethinking of the essentials of building a coaching practice. A must read for all coaches, master and novice alike."
	Building Your Ideal Private Practice By Lynn Grodzki (2000) The best-selling guide to what you need to do and who you need to be in order to have a highly profitable, personally satisfying private practice. Often called the "private practice bible" this book has become a resource for tens of thousands of your colleagues.
	The New Private Practice:Therapist-Coaches Share Stories, Strategies and Advice Edited by Lynn Grodzki (2002) A groundbreaking look at the profession of coaching through the eyes of 16 successful therapist-coaches who tell you how to become a coach, what to charge, and show you how they coach their clients.
	12 Months to Your Ideal Private Practice: A Workbook By Lynn Grodzki (2003) This planned, motivational workbook will help you build the practice you desire. The workbook incorporates fresh ideas, new exercises, further skill sets and much more to give you a direct experience of being carefully coached by Lynn, month-by-month, for a full year.

More next time,

lynn@privatepracticesuccess.com
See the website for additional articles, information about individual coaching, and upcoming classes.