Med-Diagnostics

Situation

Although Med-D, as it was referred to by insiders, was performing satisfactorily by most measures—excellence in patient care, professional competence, revenues, and referrals—the senior partner was plagued by other measures that did not indicate as much success. Three unhappy physicians who had left the group during the past five years had made recruiting new doctors more challenging. Staff turnover was bothersome and necessitated constant training as temporary workers and new hires often slowed the daily office routines of seeing patients. In addition, there was considerable complaining among both staff and physicians. As the senior partner contemplated the situation, he realized his own frustrations and waning satisfaction.

Activity

The senior partner shared his concerns with Zelma. She conducted informal interviews with the staff, each physician, and observed the daily routines. She noted that the physician partners, while usually polite to each other and to the staff, invested almost no time in building relations or really getting to know their colleagues. Except for a perfunctory Christmas party, there were no social occasions or opportunities for the staff to develop trusting relations and become a team. There was little corporate culture in Med-D, only a group of unrelated people going through well-practiced routines of seeing patients and moving on to the next task.

Zelma’s recommendation was to build culture of teamwork where everyone knew his/her role, was a high performer, and clearly focused on the Med-D intent. This clarity of purpose would give the team a strong sense of cohesion that would significantly reduce the turnover and increase job satisfaction. She suggested beginning with a golf weekend for the physicians, followed by quarterly off-site sessions and weekly breakfast meetings to build relationships and discuss their new quest. The staff also planned a retreat for initiating their team building work, followed by considerable bi-weekly training in communications, process improvement, problem solving, and other training related to increasing their skills.

Results

Discussions during the first physician off-site focused on their purpose, goals, relations, and identified the need for strong performance standards. While more than two months were required for the development and refinement of the new standards, they clearly defined the goals for both physicians and staff. They led to a new pay structure for high performers, and amazingly, resulted in a reduction in the number of staff needed to accomplish the work. The new culture was both energizing and productive. The morale among physicians and everyone associated with Med-D seemed to be on a constant incline, along with revenues and referrals.

Although it was puzzling to recollect that all of this had begun with a simple weekend of golf and roundtable discussions, there was no mystery about the exciting future of Med-D, both as a source for patients care and as a satisfying place to work!