ADVISORY e-ALERT     June 25, 2009
 
Advisory Law Group, a Professional Corporation
 
 
                                     
HOW LONG IS THE RACE?
 
Nervously, the soles of your feet are pressed firmly against the starting blocks.  The screams of the crowd resound like a thousand thunderbolts.  The starter's pistol points upward.  The trigger is pulled.  You eject forward.
 
But how long is the race?

Is it a sprint, the finish line looming close?  Or is it a long distance race, requiring more subtle strategy and tactics?
 
How do you view the business of your medical group?  Is it a sprint or is it a marathon?  Are you in it for the long haul or just for a quick buck?  If the deal with the hospital dies, will your group fall apart ... good riddance or great tears?
 
Even if a cop from a film noir classic took a hose to you, few would admit that they consider their medical group's business a sprint.  Yet many groups run their business as if it were.
 
Some consultants have even found a way of profiting from this mental turmoil.  Several months ago, I read a review of a new book by an "expert" who advises that since business today moves at the speed of light, the "old" strategic question of "where do you want to be X years from now?," must now be "where do you want to be a few days from now?"

What total crap.

Perhaps if one's version of doing business is limited to posting on Twitter, imagining until next Tuesday is a long term view.  But that's sheer lunacy if you are running (or a non-managing owner of, or even an employee of) a real business, especially a medical group.

Too many physician groups either have no strategy in place and are therefore totally reactive to events, or have a plan of sorts that actually consists of unintegrated tactics.  This has contributed in no small part to physicians' loss of control over healthcare.
 
Strategy is the map toward your intended destination, not simply of each individual stop along a way that is left to chance.  Tactics are steps in the implementation of strategy.

Yes, plans go awry and no one can guaranty that there won't be challenges to the strategy along the way.  In fact, there will be countless small and major challenges thrust at you in countless ways.
 
The key is to have a strategic outlook that incorporates both a long-term, overall strategy, together with independent, but coordinated, substrategies for various business goals.  Tactics, too, must comport with this duality:  You want to be able to implement tactics and to change them as necessary as quickly as possible - on a few days or even a few moments notice.  But those tactics are only important if they are aligned with your group's overall business strategy; they are not a substitute for a strategy.
 
If you plan on being in business a few years from now, your strategic view has to be at least that long ... or much longer.
 
On your mark, get ready, ....
 
Next month:
  How To Tell If Your Medical Group Has A Future.  
 
 
_____________________________________________
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED:  THE HIGH COST OF OVER-DELIVERING
 
 

Visit www.advisorylawgroup.com/videocasts.html 

 
 
 ________________________________________
RECENTLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES
Click here for Mark's most recent published articles.  
 
 
_______________________________________ 
MISSING COPIES OF EARLIER ISSUES OF ADVISORY e-ALERT?

 

New to the list and want to read past issues?
 
Did you delete (by mistake, of course!) a past issue of Advisory e-Alert and want another copy?
 
No matter the reason why, back issues of Advisory e-Alert are available from the archive.  Click here.
 
______________________________________
 
ADVISORY LAW GROUP, a Professional Corporation
 
Tel:  877-883-2803
Fax: 877-883-0099
 
10940 Wilshire Blvd, 16th FL
Los Angeles, CA  90024
 
1227 De La Vina St
Santa Barbara, CA  93101

Visit Us On The Web
 
The materials presented in this Advisory e-Alert are educational only and are neither legal advice nor a substitute for it. Advisory e-Alert presents a general discussion which may or may not apply to your particular legal or factual circumstances. The distribution of Advisory e-Alert is not intended to create, nor does it create, an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send us confidential information without receiving explicit authorization from Advisory Law Group to do so. Do not take or avoid taking any action as a result of the materials presented in this e-Alert without first obtaining legal counsel.   
 
Let Us Know What Business/Legal Issues You'd Like to See Addressed in A Future Issue
 
Warning Sign
 
 
 
In This Issue
How Long Is The Race?
Videocast: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Recently Published Articles
The e-Alert Archive
The Immediate Leader Experience
Mentor Program
The Wisdom. Applied. Blog
 
 
ANNOUNCING 
THE IMMEDIATE LEADER EXPERIENCE™
 
 
 
 

You're a physician who wants to form a medical group and, among other things, subcontract with or employ other physicians, enter into exclusive contacts, obtain significant stipend support money, create related entities to increase protection and the like. And you want to come up to speed on all of this immediately.

Or, you're the new leader of an existing group with complex practice and business operations -- you need to understand how to master the group's organizational, operational and leadership issues -- and you need to be brought up to speed immediately.
 
After having regularly dealt for many years with physicians in both of these contexts, we've designed a process to deliver immediate results: The Immediate Leader Experience™.
 
The Immediate Leader Experience™ takes place over a weekend in Santa Barbara, California and includes two nights accommodation at the Four Seasons Santa Barbara Biltmore Hotel. 
 
In two short days, you'll be entirely up to speed, totally prepared and confident.  You'll be armed with tools and sample documents.
 
Due to the nature of this program, admission is upon interview only -- there is extremely limited availability.
 
For further information on The Immediate Leader Experience™ follow this link.  
MENTOR PROGRAM 
For information on Mark's mentor program, click on the following link:  The Advisor Program.
 
________________
THE WISDOM. APPLIED. BLOG
Follow this link to Mark's blog, Wisdom. Applied.
 
________________
ALL ABOUT ALG
 
Join Our Mailing List