10 warning signs your facility may not make it
By Stephen W. Earnhart, MS
CEO
Earnhart & Associates
Austin, TX
We can predict much in life now. The health care industry has diagnostic tools to detect many forms of cancer, heart disease, and other life-threatening illnesses. Meteorologists can chart a mass of low pressure off the coast of Africa and reasonably predict when it will strike Florida.
But what about a business? Can we predict which businesses will fail and which will thrive? We have all eaten at a new restaurant and walked out saying "this place is not to going to make it long" or "this place will be here a long time."
If you have a sense of knowledge about something, you are in a pretty good position to predict whether it is going to hit its mark and be successful.
For the past 18 years, I have been in and out of hundreds of surgery centers and hospitals. That in and of itself does not make me an expert by any means.
I have been in and out of the same number of airplanes and still don’t know what keeps them from falling out of the sky — but the difference is that I only have been a passenger on the airplane.
In the surgery facilities, I have been evaluating, apprising, developing, or studying them. That again, does not make me an expert, but it does give me a sense of knowledge about them.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could predict if your department or surgery center was going to be successful? Think of the advantage you would have: It’s like knowing a market price the day before it was published.
Using our example of the surgery centers and hospital departments, you could know if you should hire additional staff or put together your resume. Well, you can.
Several years ago, I noticed a trend, based upon my own observations of client projects. I called them "warning signs" and usually would point them out to clients at the time.
These signs were not based upon anything scientific, and still aren’t.
While my predictions are not 100% accurate, they are very close. I also have noticed that in many cases, the warning signs can be reversed once action is taken.
Warning signs of impending doom:
- Rude, surly, inattentive receptionists. You know if you have them. Managers who tolerate that behavior have no respect for patients or staff members who enter their facility. They have given up and shortly will let other issues slide.
- A physically dirty environment. This indicates a lack of respect for yourself. You are going out of business.
- No staff meetings for months at a time. There always is something to learn or share, but you just don’t care anymore.
- Sending self-pay patients to collection agencies. You’re too lazy to collect it yourself and don’t mind turning that patient and everyone he or she knows into an enemy.
- Excessive turnaround times. These generally indicate no one is in charge and no one is motivated to keep the surgeons happy.
- Departments that have staff members who have "maxed out on pay increases" and are no longer given raises. They will show you the same lack of respect you are showing them by not giving them raises with everyone else.
- No follow-up calls to patients. You just don’t care.
- Excessive equipment breakage. There’s no respect for your job, and there’s carelessness.
- Staff members expanding their break time, excessive lateness, or leaving early. They don’t like their job and are just in it for the paycheck.
- Staff members and management don’t read journals, newsletters, or attend related conferences to expend their knowledge base.
Does your program exhibiting any of the above warning signs mean you’re going to go out of business next month? Probably not, but you are on a slippery slope.
(Editor’s note: Earnhart & Associates is an ambulatory surgery consulting firm specializing in all aspects of surgery center development and management.
Contact Earnhart at 3112 Windsor Road, Suite A-242, Austin, TX 78703. E-mail: [email protected]. Web: www.earnhart.com.)
We can predict much in life now. The health care industry has diagnostic tools to detect many forms of cancer, heart disease, and other life-threatening illnesses. Meteorologists can chart a mass of low pressure off the coast of Africa and reasonably predict when it will strike Florida.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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