Crisis management for your medical practice

A: It's at a difficult time such as this when strong and consistent leadership is vital to a practice's health and longevity. You, as the remaining physician-partner, must rise to the occasion and guide your practice through this unexpected change by providing clear direction, making sound decisions, and relying on facts, not emotion.

Obviously, a planned change is much better than one that's unexpected or forced. Yet, no matter how much planning occurs, crises are inevitable, such as the one your practice is experiencing now. Good financial and procedural benchmark data can help you steer clear of pitfalls and help you assess the direction in which you should take your practice in light of these unanticipated events.

Answers to readers' questions were provided by Thomas J. Ferkovic, RPh, MS, managing director, SS&G Healthcare Services LLC, Akron, Ohio. Send your practice management questions to medec@advanstar.comAlso engage at http://www.twitter.com/MedEconomics and http://www.facebook.com/MedicalEconomics.