Healthcare Consulting with John Shufeldt, MD

Healthcare consulting can take many forms. Most often, hospitals hire healthcare consultants to evaluate their current organizational structure and recommend improvements. Healthcare consultants can assist the hospital with improving organizational efficiency, patient care, and effectiveness of the executive leadership. In addition to hospitals, individual physicians can also benefit from healthcare consulting.

John Shufeldt, MD can improve hospital efficiency, create and implement business growth strategies, help individual physicians rediscover their passion for medicine and plan their personal growth, or even assist physicians with their own healthcare startup idea.

Building a Stronger Hospital from the Top Down

Your employees are your most valuable asset, and they need strong, effective leadership to execute the hospital’s mission and fulfill its values. Your hospital may benefit from executive leadership consulting if any of the following are true:

The facility has a high turnover rate.
There is a noticeable lack of morale and camaraderie.
HR receives complaints about management.
Conflicts aren’t getting resolved appropriately.
Healthcare leaders have trouble working with others with conflicting leadership/management styles.

Healthcare consulting may also be right for your organization if there are any communication problems, work relationships are strained, or the organization has trouble fulfilling its mission.

Once strong and effective leadership is in place, a growth strategy will be easier to implement. There are many opportunities available for healthcare facilities to expand.

By hiring John Shufeldt, MD as your healthcare consultant, your hospital’s executive leadership can learn to communicate clearly and work cooperatively, leading teams toward the successful fulfillment of the facility’s mission. As healthcare executives learn to become better leaders, the workplace morale will improve and the organization will benefit from greater efficiency.

Evaluating and Redesigning Organizational Behavior

What is organizational behavior and how can healthcare consulting help you improve it? Quite simply, organizational behavior is the evaluation of how people interact within their different groups, and how those relationships and interactions affect the overall business. Improving a hospital’s organizational behavior can offer the following benefits:

Motivate employees to reach or exceed job performance expectations.
Enhance job satisfaction for employees, which improves patient care and reduces staff turnover rates.
Promote innovation, or intrapreneurialship from within to create a robust, dynamic organization.

The study of organizational behavior is particularly crucial for healthcare facilities. This is because the medical industry is uniquely predicated upon evolutionary change. Every year brings new changes to the industry, whether regulatory, scientific, or technological. Healthcare consultants can guide healthcare leaders in improving organizational behavior to become more adaptable in the face of these changes. The application of the principles of organizational behavior can lead to an inclusive workplace culture that fosters innovation and encourages employees to become invested in the success of the business.

Improving Healthcare Facility Efficiency

Another benefit of arranging for healthcare consulting is the opportunity to improve the efficiency of the healthcare facility. The primary responsibility of any healthcare organization is to provide high-quality, patient-centered healthcare to the local community. However, hospitals are also businesses that need to turn a profit.

These two goals do not have to be at odds with each other. It really is possible to achieve better patient care, while also improving hospital efficiency in a way that drives profits up. Plus, you can achieve these objectives in a way that keeps your employees satisfied with their positions. For better patient care and greater efficiency, healthcare consulting experts recommend using the Lean Six Sigma principles.

The Lean Six Sigma method is actually a hybrid of two approaches. The Lean method is primarily focused on waste reduction, and the Six Sigma method is intended to optimize quality control by reducing variation.

John Shufeldt, MD is Six Sigma certified and can help you customize and apply the following principles of the Lean Six Sigma method:

Keep the focus on the customer: Before implementing any organizational change, consider how it affects the customer. Ensure that all changes are aligned with the hospital’s high standards of care.
Identify the problem: Any major change typically involves numerous small changes, and it can be easy to lose sight of the main problem that the new process was intended to correct. Always keep a clear line of sight on the problem at hand, and ensure all changes are focused on correcting it.
Streamline the process: The more complex and varied a change or process is, the greater the opportunity for problems and wasted resources. Streamline changes as much as possible by reducing variations. Streamlining is also a way to optimize quality control and operational efficiency.
Invite collaboration and train appropriately: All staff members involved with changing an organizational process should understand the Lean Six Sigma method and the goals of the change.
Be systematic, yet responsive: Organizational change should be implemented consistently across the organization. However, just because your approach is systematic doesn’t mean it must be rigid. Stay flexible and be responsive to opportunities for refinement and adjustments.

As a healthcare consulting expert, John Shufeldt, MD can customize the Lean Six Sigma approach to the unique needs of your hospital. The result will be a leaner, more efficient, and more profitable healthcare organization that fully meets or exceeds the needs of its patient population.

Building Your Own Brand: Ready to Take the Plunge?

There are many reasons why physicians choose to leave the security of a larger healthcare organization and launch their own healthcare startup. You may want the freedom to organize your practice around your passions and interests, or you might want the ability to directly hire the people with whom you work. Regardless of your reasons, if you think you’re ready to take the plunge, you can benefit from healthcare consulting services.

John Shufeldt, MD has more than 30 years of experience in medical-related startups, and can help you learn how to avoid making the same mistakes he did. Building your own brand is incredibly challenging, yet rewarding, and it requires more than medical knowledge to achieve it.

You’ll also need to develop a comprehensive business plan, deal with organizational documents, and secure startup capital. Healthcare consulting services can even help you develop a sound marketing plan designed to attract your ideal patient base. Plus, you will benefit from exploring the intricacies of operational and managerial strategies.

Rediscovering Your Passion for Medicine

The practice of medicine is a calling. But sometimes, physicians lose their passion for medicine. The physical and mental exhaustion of caring for patients and dealing with the business aspects of healthcare can grind down even the most resilient of physicians. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should give up your practice in favor of a different career outside of medicine. Instead, consider turning to healthcare consulting services.

Healthcare consulting may be right for you if you have any of the following signs of physician burnout:

You’re constantly exhausted and wake up feeling unrefreshed.
You feel emotionally numb and are having trouble building rapport with your patients.
You have a nagging little voice in your head that asks, “How long can I keep doing this?”
You have trouble making time for friends and family, and can’t remember the last time you did anything for yourself.

Physicians struggling with burnout often experience disruptions in their sleep and dietary habits as well, as self-care often gets put on the back burner thanks to a large patient caseload. If you would like to rediscover your passion for medicine, learn effective coping techniques, and once again own your future, healthcare consulting is right for you.

Are you ready to own your future and build a better healthcare practice? Contact John Shufeldt, MD for more information on our services for hospitals and individual physicians. As the founder of healthcare startups, John is uniquely qualified to consult on organizational issues. Contact us today to learn more. In addition, if you are a physician looking to start your own business, check our my book, Entrepreneur Rx. In Entrepreneur Rx, I share time tested insights and knowledge for building a thriving startup while maintaining your practice. From identifying winning business ideas to raising necessary capital, I offer a comprehensive insider’s view into strategies that have helped me develop and nurture a number of successful businesses.