We have been talking about goal setting, and last time we talked about how goal setting helps us solve problems and that we make money by solving problems. Now I would like to address the idea of planning with goal setting. If we do not plan, then how can we achieve our goals? Most people spend more time planning for a vacation than they do for their future. What if you took off for a trip with no plan in mind? You have the family loaded in the car, you start to drive, and then when you get tired you stop and tell everyone, “This is it; we have arrived, even though we do not know where we are and maybe even how we got here, but yes, sorry everyone, this is it”. No one would really want to do that, but yet we do it all the time with our lives and in our business, and then we look around us and wonder how in the world did we ever get in this position or to this place in our life?
We all know how important it is to set goals, yet many people set goals and then never plan on how to actually achieve those goals. This is where strategic planning comes into play. For some reason, it is a scary term and most people, even large corporations, will do anything to avoid strategic planning. Strategic planning is nothing more than looking at your goals and asking yourself: how I am going to achieve them? What do I need to do today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year to accomplish what I want? Once you have asked yourself these questions, you already have a plan. Then, if you are not achieving your goals, you do not have to stop; you can simply look at your plan and see if it needs some tweaking. You can come up with a plan on your own, your staff, or you can even purchase software that will walk you through the process (depending on how involved you want to get and how big your organization is). Sometimes you plan and plan and you do not achieve your goals. In this case, it would be a good idea to reevaluate your goals and see if they are legitimate and truly what you want. Maybe God has a different plan for you and you need to look elsewhere for your inspiration. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being on the wrong track as long as we recognize it and get back on the right track. Many successful people set out on a goal, had to completely change mid-course, and it was the best move that they ever made. Ronald Reagan, the greatest President of all times in my opinion, started out in acting and decided to change goals; he became one of the greatest leaders that the United States has ever seen. He did not do anything wrong; he was just smart enough to recognize where his real strength was and then planned for that instead.
Set your goals accordingly so that you can accomplish what you want both in business and in your personal life. Then sit down with everyone that needs to be involved and plan on how to achieve them. If the plan is not working, change it; or if needed, set new goals. There is nothing wrong with changing plans and/or goals. It is only wrong if you quit. Always move forward because once you quit it is over, and where you are is where you will stay.
We will continue to talk about goal setting. Last time we talked about how important it is to set goals because of the barriers we may face along the way. Goals will keep us focused on what we are trying to accomplish and not let those barriers stop us. Today we will talk about how we need to set goals to solve problems. Any organization, whether it is a few employees or many, will have problems. Instead of getting down on ourselves, we need to be focused on our goals so that we can solve the day to day problems that come up. Problems are nothing more than a way to make money; the more problems you solve, the more money you make.
A leader must make sacrifices in order to solve problems. Consistently sacrificing means being so focused on your goals that it does not seem like a sacrifice but instead a way of doing business because this is what is necessary to get the job done. A leader must maintain a high standard of ethics and moral character at all times. In order to accomplish this, he/she may need to not be associated with fellow co-workers and not socialize with other employees. This prevents being misunderstood or put in any uncomfortable situations. Never meet with another co-worker, especially someone of the opposite sex, without another person in the room. This way nothing can ever be misunderstood. A leader must always offer excellent effort and service. This means that the leader may have to stay late or be the first one to work, but they must always lead in a way that makes sure the work gets done on time and properly. A leader can never be down and show depression or lack of caring; they must always bring their “A” game. A leader must always commit in order to prioritize relationships. There are many times when a leader has to choose between what he/she has to do and what he/she wants to do. Unfortunately, this may involve people they are working with or may involve family time, but they always have to be willing to sacrifice for the company. Another key point here is that a leader also has to keep his family time in the fore front of his priorities, or it can become easy to lose that time. If you have a well run company with a broken family, the leader has failed. It is a balancing act, but very important that it is done correctly. In my case, it meant giving up some of the things that I enjoyed doing by myself because I wanted to spend time with my family when I was not working. A leader must also be willing to admit when they have done wrong and ask for forgiveness. People will always respect you for admitting your faults, because as we all know, no one is perfect.
One of the hardest things for a lot of leaders to do is to admit their mistakes to employees and ask for forgiveness. However, if they don’t, someone will harbor bad feelings and it will come back later to haunt the leader or the organization. Be up front and admit your mistakes; be humble and ask for forgiveness. A leader also has to desire to maintain communication and momentum. Sometimes the last thing a leader wants to do when they are busy is stop and talk to someone about something. However, it is extremely important that they do. They also have to keep the momentum going at all times even when they are tired and may not feel like it. If the leader lets down, it is a guarantee that everyone else will do the same.
Therefore, being a leader means to sacrifice for the company at all times. A leader has to do this in order to solve problems and as I said earlier, solving problems is how you make money. So do not look at it as a sacrifice, look at it as a blessing that you are in a position to be able to sacrifice to make a company and a group of people better and more productive.
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If you are on the fence on whether or not to convert your practice to a paperless practice, then now is the time. The hardest part is just doing it and once you do, I know you won’t regret your decision. Has your veterinary practice recently gone paperless? I would love to hear about it.
Increased information, technological advancements and shifts in focus all affect the success of a veterinary practice. As a result of these changes, many owners are beginning to rethink their business philosophy. The question remains, where to start? If a business plan was created when the practice started, this may be a good time to review it. Have the goals changed? Consider the original plan and begin noting the changes and updates. A fully functional business plan with a mission statement and goals clearly defined will provide focus and help with decision-making process when updating different aspects of the business.
If the veterinary practice has not yet become computerized , it is time begin planning for the proper implementation strategy. Technology will help increase productivity of staff members and streamline processes. Software packages developed especially for the industry will help with inventory control, billing, medical records and marketing. Profitability is enhanced as more can be done in a shorter time with fewer staff members. The reporting capabilities that are included help owners and managers monitor the increased efficiency and enable them to modify processes to help reach greater levels of profitability. Inventory supply versus demand, overhead costs as it relates to revenue and the per client expense can all be monitored.
Five and ten year plans help keep the focus in line with current business needs and often are created with an exit strategy. Partnerships, satellite offices, and real estate investments are frequently included in long-term plans. A focus on customer service is at the foundation of
veterinary practice success. On-going communication with clients, updated care techniques, and on-site services contribute to superior service levels. Practices that excel in this area retain a larger percentage of clients and are referred more frequently. Building a loyal customer base ensures sustainability. It also maximizes marketing dollars and stimulates practice growth.
Despite specializing in a few areas, it is best to continue offering a full range of services. Many clients prefer to have all of their needs taken care of by a single veterinary practice. This convenience will help retention levels. Ongoing internal communications are also required to maintain superior customer service. Standardized job descriptions that are updated as the practice grows and changes ensure everyone understands their roles and how they contribute to the business. Performance appraisals provide objective feedback to continue to increase productivity levels.
Today we are going to talk about being paperless in your practice. If you aren’t paperless yet you are missing out on a great time saving device as well as being more organized than you could possibly be when you have a lot of paper. I have been paperless since 1993 and would not practice in a facility that was still using paper. Too many things get lost and it is almost impossible to read 99% of the veterinarians hand writing. It also looks very unprofessional in my opinion when you print off hand written records. I had the first AAHA approved paperless medical records back in the early 1990’s.
Many people ask me “How do I go paperless?” and I just say "do it". There is never a good or bad time to do it you just have to make the decision to do it. The first thing is I would make sure you have a computer system software management package that will allow this. I have used the old PSI (Cornerstone) dos version, E Friends, and now currently using DVMax . They all worked for me but I believe DVMax is the best medical record of any of them. There are a lot of software packages and I am sure that most of them will allow this today. You then need to decide what to do with all the old records. You can use both systems till you have your paper files empty and every time someone comes in scan all of the records into a file. The other possibility is to scan all records from then start. The problem with this is you may scan a lot of records of clients that may never come back again. Remember anything you do not scan has to be saved somewhere for 7 years.
Most of the programs today take blood work results from in house or from an outside laboratory and download them into the medical records. There is never a chance of blood work being lost or misplaced. When someone has a question for a Doctor about a patient the Doctor can go in the record from any computer and look it up while he/she is talking to the client. A receptionist doesn’t have to put the client on hold, pull a file, find the Doctor and give him/her the file, and then wait while the Doctor goes through all the paper work. Most of the programs put charges in as you enter medical records so fewer charges will get missed.
The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages and so I don’t know why everyone doesn’t go paperless. I assume soon it will be mandatory for clinics to be paperless. It doesn’t do a patient any good if there are multiple pages of records that no one can read. Make a decision to change and go paperless and you will agree it will be one of the best decisions you have ever made in your practice.
We have been talking about goal setting, and last time we talked about how goal setting helps us solve problems and that we make money by solving problems. Now I would like to address the idea of planning with goal setting. If we do not plan, then how can we achieve our goals? Most people spend more time planning for a vacation than they do for their future. What if you took off for a trip with no plan in mind? You have the family loaded in the car, you start to drive, and then when you get tired you stop and tell everyone, “This is it; we have arrived, even though we do not know where we are and maybe even how we got here, but yes, sorry everyone, this is it”. No one would really want to do that, but yet we do it all the time with our lives and in our business, and then we look around us and wonder how in the world did we ever get in this position or to this place in our life?
We will continue to talk about goal setting. Last time we talked about how important it is to set goals because of the barriers we may face along the way. Goals will keep us focused on what we are trying to accomplish and not let those barriers stop us. Today we will talk about how we need to set goals to solve problems. Any organization, whether it is a few employees or many, will have problems. Instead of getting down on ourselves, we need to be focused on our goals so that we can solve the day to day problems that come up. Problems are nothing more than a way to make money; the more problems you solve, the more money you make.
Today we are going to talk about being paperless in your practice. If you aren’t paperless yet you are missing out on a great time saving device as well as being more organized than you could possibly be when you have a lot of paper. I have been paperless since 1993 and would not practice in a facility that was still using paper. Too many things get lost and it is almost impossible to read 99% of the veterinarians hand writing. It also looks very unprofessional in my opinion when you print off hand written records. I had the first AAHA approved paperless medical records back in the early 1990’s.
