Times have changed. Private clinics are under financial pressure with decreasing reimbursements and increasing costs and overheads. Yet, there is a way to float above the rest and not only survive but do well. There is a new paradigm.

Constant tweaking and restructuring has made a mess of the physician businessperson. Doctors are now doing so many more things than before. They are expected to be HR Managers, Technologists (aka EMR software experts), Financial experts and now Marketing experts.

Gone are the days of spending leisurely hours with patients, getting to know them better, spending weekends with family on a boat – even if you had to take paper charts home. Gone are the days when you had a loyal staff that cared about patients, your practice and you. Your lunch hours are spend researching the internet for the best EMR software, or learning new tricks that don’t apply to what you were trained to do – treat patients.

The new watchword is ‘operational excellence‘. Translate this to mean working with lower costs,  lower salaried employees, and so on. 

How do you cut through the day and hard work with the 80/20 rule?

It is actually very simple. Most results or consequences come from a very small number of causes. Majority of outputs – good and bad – come from few inputs. Most of your results will come from a small amount of effort and energy. In other words, according to the 80/20 rule, 80% of results come from 20% of inputs. Simply put, very few things matter and have a great impact, and those that do matter enormously.

Therefore, identify those few activities that you should pursue because they will lead to greater impact and better results.