Business skills are at the core of any commercial establishment, and the medical practice of today is just like any other small business. To be at par with peers and remain competitive in this saturated market, doctors can no longer rely on purely medical skills; they must learn management and business skills as well.
Moreover, patients of today are very different from the patients of the twentieth century. They have access to technology and the internet, which has truly democratized information. Patients of the twenty-first century are well-informed about symptoms, diseases, treatments, drugs and their drawbacks, and they longer trust the doctor or his advice blindly!
Patients are just one piece of the practice puzzle. Doctors also have to deal with staff, associate doctors, vendors and service providers (like diagnostic labs) and manage relationships with other doctors, clinics and hospitals. People skills are thus at the core of this service-intensive business.
People skills may be easy to accomplish, but that’s just the start. Apart from managing people, doctors need to plan a business strategy, establish competitive advantage, have a clear branding & marketing plan, manage finances including income & expenses, streamline inventory & vendor management, plan for expansion & vertical or horizontal integration (an in-house lab or more branches?) and consider a succession plan.
If that seems too much to handle, don’t worry. Recognizing this clear need for doctors to learn & practice essential business skills, Practo brings you
Dr. MBA: B-School Lessons for Doctors
What Dr. MBA will cover
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Basics of business
- Key business metrics for every medical practice
- Introduction to healthcare management
- Creating a business plan for your medical practice
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Business strategy
- Basics of business strategy for medical practices
- Lessons in strategy: Creating competitive advantage
- Lessons in strategy: Succession planning
- Expansion strategy for medical practices
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Marketing
- Introduction to marketing for medical practices
- The 4Ps of marketing & 3Ps of services
- Branding & positioning a medical practice
- Digital marketing for medical practices
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Human resources
- Introduction to human resource management for medical practices
- Lessons on managing medical staff effectively
- Leadership vs management
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Finance
- Introduction to financial management of medical practices
- Key financial numbers every doctor must monitor
- Managing income & expenses at your medical practice
- Basics of raising money for medical practice growth & expansion
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Operations
- Introduction to inventory management at medical practices
- Just-in-time inventory management practices
- Managing vendors, medical labs & service providers effectively
We trust this series of informative articles will help you manage & grow your practice better, eventually leading to a streamlined and stress-free experience for you. These topics are drawn from business school lessons and MBA curriculum, and you will certainly have knowledge equivalent to a mini-MBA at the end of the series!
Do you have any other topics that we should talk about? Leave a comment below or email us: marketing@practo.com.
Look out for the first Dr. MBA article next week!