Erich H. Mattei, MBA, speaking at the GRT Summit in Bar Harbor Maine in August 2023. Mattei says that there is a process you can follow for approaching practice management as a CEO.
Developing a CEO mentality that takes your practice to the next level.
By Erich H. Mattei, MBA
Oct. 11, 2023
Are you an optometrist and practice owner or an optometrist and practice CEO? There is a difference between merely owning a practice and truly leading it. Here’s a process for achieving a CEO mentality that will help you enhance patient care and experience while building efficiency and profitability.
3-Step Process for Optimizing Your Practice for Profitability & Efficiency:
Step 1. Analysis
Carefully examine practice analytics, industry trends and internal priorities to make data-informed decisions for your practice. List your top three practice priorities. These may be any combination of internal objectives: growing production, fostering teamwork, making your associate partner, adding a specialty, improving marketing ROI–or just about anything.
For each priority, assess how your practice compares to industry benchmarks. Be specific, identifying the gaps and opportunities in your practice.
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Data and observations uncovered through analysis will allow for greater optimization of strategy and action moving forward. (Which analytics did you seek out in your analysis? These metrics will serve as your “feedback loop” in Step 3!)
Step 2. Strategy
Establish stakeholder-centric strategies that empower your team, delight your patients and positively impact the bottom line to position your practice for sustainable success. For each of the three practice priorities identified in Step 1, examine each stakeholders’ overall experience, incurred costs (monetary and time/hassle/headaches) and realized benefit. Then evaluate each of the following questions for each priority:
- What modern solutions and processes can be adopted for the benefit of your team?
- Where is there opportunity to enhance the patient experience?
- How will these tactics impact the bottom line?
Your goal is to develop strategies that are win-win-win for all key stakeholders— people, patients and profit.
Step 3. Implementation
Provide structure and leadership to ensure tactics are effective, while remaining agile. Generating desired results when implementing something new in your practice is a function of:
- Management. Who are your Change Champions that will lead execution of the priority?
- Metrics. What are your Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound (SMART) goals for the objective?
- Follow-up. How frequently will you and your Change Champions monitor the “feedback loop” and follow-up as a group, in pods, and one-on-one?
Remember, as practice owners you need to continuously evolve. These are just a few concepts for practices to consider. Transformation does not happen suddenly, so take it one step and day at a time. Helping patients and your community while running a successful business does not need to feel overwhelming. Small changes over time matter. You need to decide to lead your team. The investment in time can improve your quality of life, too.
You May Need Outside Help
If you are not sure how to improve your business acumen via the above recommended steps, start with an expert consultant. You spent years developing your skills as a doctor, and that required dozens of mentors. Repeat this process in business and find the right mentors and consultants. Be sure to take a systemic approach to diagnosing your business woes.
Proactive leadership and decision-making are keys to success for a profitable and efficient practice of the 21st century.
Erich H. Mattei, MBA, is President and Chief Vision Officer of Akrinos. His mission is to make the business of eyecare approachable, accessible and profitable. In so doing, he consults with private practices across North America, provides strategic advisory to some of the biggest names and hottest start-ups in eyecare, and empowers modern ECPs as a continuing education and keynote speaker. To contact him: erich@akrinos.com
