Topics:

• Basic business skills in managing a practice
• Financial operations including management of financial risk
• Staffing and personnel issues
• Contracting and other aspects of health plan affiliations
• Practice systems for patient access, e.g., telephone, appointment, triage
• State and federal regulation

Content and topic goals: Content in this domain includes both internal practice operations and external environmental factors and relationships affecting the practice. Maintaining a successful practice requires a solid understanding of how health care is financed, how budgets are created and used, and how fair contracts are negotiated. The information presented in this topic area will help learners negotiate and implement contracts that include appropriate risk-sharing safeguards and that support profitable practice. Physicians will also learn how to manage provider subcontracts, and how to develop and implement financial and information systems that effectively monitor resource utilization. This topic area addresses these issues, helping practitioners learn to develop and maintain effective external relationships with affiliated providers and health plans. It also provides information on how to research and identify pertinent state and federal regulations.

To serve patients effectively and appropriately, a practice must be organized around customer service. If the clinical staff provide excellent care but patients have a hard time scheduling appointments when they want them or can't get through on the phone, their needs are not being effectively met. In this topic area, learners will explore ways to develop and implement efficient, customer-focused processes for scheduling primary care and referral appointments, for creating telephone access and for triaging calls appropriately. This topic area also covers how to identify the optimal configuration and roles of clinical and administrative staff, and how to provide staff training on the covered services and patient care protocols associated with each of the major health plans in which the practice participates.

Topics:

• Team leadership, group dynamics, cognitive styles, and delegation
• Team-based techniques to assess, coordinate, and improve overall health care
• Teamwork among clinical and administrative staff for internal operations and across the continuum of care
• Change management

Content and topic goals: Interdisciplinary training is not part of the typical health professional education curriculum. Yet, in practice, the ability to work effectively with others-- administrative and support staff as well as clinical colleagues--is of paramount importance to the success of the practice and to the care of the patient. This topic area helps physicians and other professionals understand the principles of teamwork, and how to apply them in order to interact effectively with others. Learners can apply their teamwork skills to achieve optimal resource use and efficiency, and to achieve consistent and positive patient outcomes. Teamwork skills can also help learners develop and maintain effective collaborative relationships among providers and health plans to achieve mutual objectives.

Solid leadership and change management skills are powerful tools in today's changing practice environment. This topic area teaches how to effectively influence colleagues to accept and achieve new goals regarding quality, finances and utilization management; how to plan, organize, implement, and monitor both the internal operations of the practice and its interface with the external environment; and how to manage change processes and overcome resistance from colleagues and staff. Effective communication techniques are also covered, for use in both formal structured meetings and informal discussions.