Neil H. Baum, MD, presented “Practice Evaluation” for the Grand Rounds in Urology audience in May 2022.
How to cite: Baum, Neil H. “Practice Evaluation.” May 2022. Accessed Jul 2024. https://grandroundsinurology.com/practice-evaluation/
Practice Evaluation – Summary
Grand Rounds in Urology Contributing Editor Neil H. Baum, MD, Professor of Urology at Tulane Medical School, goes over four steps to conduct a medical practice evaluation in order to help improve a practice’s efficiency or prepare it for sale or merger. He begins by observing that the road to success in healthcare has become increasingly complicated as regulation and costs have increased, and technology has developed. Dr. Baum then introduces the first step in performing a practice evaluation: identifying long-term goals and motivation behind the practice. He explains that the doctor/owner must ask themselves where they are in their career and consider whether they plan to sell or merge in the near future. The answers to these questions may lead to further questions about how sustainable the practice is without the full time involvement of the doctor, or about how the doctor/owner can make the practice more attractive to potential buyers. Dr. Baum then moves on to the second step: evaluate practice essentials. These essentials include profit/loss statements, patient volume, status of competitors, patient satisfaction, the status of accounts receivable, and more. Dr. Baum follows this with the third step: measurement of provider productivity. He explains that practice owners should determine how productive doctors in their practice are by looking at the number of patients seen per provider during each half-day session. He suggests that once they have gathered this data, practice owners can determine how to make the lower producers more productive. Finally, Dr. Baum goes over the fourth step: evaluate team talent and morale. He observes that staff salaries represent a practice’s largest expense, and he notes that staff are largely responsible for patient satisfaction. Dr. Baum recommends having an employee review every quarter while also holding regular staff meetings and conducting employee engagement surveys.
For more commentary on practice management from Dr. Baum, visit his Improving Your Urology Practice page.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neil H. Baum, MD, is a Clinical Professor of Urology at Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a retired urologic surgeon. Additionally, Dr. Baum serves as the Medical Advisor to Vanguard Communications Group. Dr. Baum is the author of Marketing Your Clinical Practice - Ethically, Effectively, and Economically, which is in its 4th edition, has sold over 175,000 copies, and has been translated into Spanish. He also wrote The Complete Business Guide to a Successful Medical Practice, which was published in 2015. Dr. Baum was the columnist for American Medical News for more than 25 years. Dr. Baum also wrote the popular column, “The Bottom Line,” for Urology Times for more than 20 years. He is a requested speaker each year to the Practice Management Seminar for the American Urological Association (AUA), where he discusses techniques for making urology practices more efficient and more productive. He has written more than 9 books on practice management and over 250 peer-reviewed articles on various urologic topics. Dr. Baum is also the medical advisor to Vanguard Communications Group.
