Becoming Best in Practice - Part 3

Best in Practice is not a destination. It’s a journey. Like the horizon, Best in Practice recedes at a pace proportional to the advances made by the race’s leaders. If you can’t see the leaders, you are in trouble! If you are the leader, staying ahead becomes the challenge, knowing that everyone is out to get you!


Also keep in mind that the race leaders may not be in your profession. They may not be constrained by law, third-party rules and regulations, or even professional codes of ethics. They may not have bends in their road. They may not even being traveling on roads.


They may be in your market without your awareness. In fact, it’s probable! You are racing competitors you don’t see. Your prize is their prize.


Becoming Best in Practice is about vision, dissatisfaction with status-quo, commitment to serve, professional pride, a competitive spirit, compulsion for innovation, embracing change, and tenacity in execution.


It all begins with leadership.


Best in Practice is all the talk these days. Is your practice walking the talk? Are you walking in the right direction? Will just walking get you there in time? Are you walking alone?


Follow-the-leader or Best in Practice? The choice is yours...


Bob


(c) copyright 2009
Performance Builders

Becoming Best in Practice - Part 2

Continued...


“Best” is not just about good intentions, but rather its about earnest, conscientious and focused activity that achieves a superior performance in comparison to others. “Best” is one part attitude, one part behavior, and one part achievement. It’s not about being a player; it’s about being a contender. It’s about being competitive; it’s about being the pace setter. It’s about being out front and staying there.


Yes, its about leadership.


The term “in” has connotations of holding power (the in-party), exclusivity (the in-crowd), positioning (in-the-box), and fashionable (the in-thing). But, there is more. To become Best in Practice is to surpass all that is ordinary. To be "in" is to inform, innovate, and inspire.


Traditionally, “practice” has meant the customary knowledge, operations, and behaviors of a profession. Our tendency is to adopt an egocentric understanding of “practice” and think in terms of my-practice. There is also our-practice, as in that of the greater profession; and then there is the-practice of more broadly defined health-professions. In a market of high deductables and co-pays with client interests on value and results and competitors for many disciplines competing for the same client, it is only the-practice that counts.


It is the latter, larger practice pond in which one swims and competes for market share. The stakes just got bigger!


A more insightful understanding of practice is, "translating an idea into action (praxis)".


For most professionals, practice involves the discipline of taking the same old tired ideas and putting them into the same old actions to achieve the same old results – think habits; think follow-the-leader, think prisons.


For those who are Becoming Best in Practice, ideas are fresh, big, bold, and startling.


What kind of ideas?


How about providing amazing new services that get people talking?
How about inspiring clients to market for you?
How about improving productivity by 25 percent?
How about eliminating accounts receivable beyond sixty days?
How about tripling profitability?
How about…


Now we're getting the idea!


More next post.


All The Best!



Bob



(c) copyright 2009
Performance Builders

Becoming Best in Practice - Part 1

It has been said that a bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn. Have you noticed that the road of physical therapy practice has acquired more bends in recent years? There are the bends of more regulations, more competition, less reimbursement, more expenses, greater risks, and less time for life’s pleasures. Is your practice on pace and staying on the road?


Practices today need more speed and better traction to compete. Those with notions of appearing in the winner’s circle need a competitive edge. They need to be Best in Practice!


Let’s get something straight. Just because you adopt best practices doesn’t mean you are a contender for Best in Practice. There is a difference!


Best practices refer to business policies, clinical procedures, and operational processes that have been found to be used by top-performing practices through the process of benchmarking. The concept behind benchmarking is simple. Practices compare performance data. Lower performers adopt the practices of higher performers as a means to improve their own performance.


While benchmarking is an important strategic tool for staying alive and in the game, that “game” is follow-the-leader. Followers are not Best in Practice.


The title Best in Practice can be claimed by no more than the top 25 percent of practices. That means, of course, that a practice has a 75 percent statistical probability of not being Best –in Practice. It’s not a title to claim; it’s a title to earn.


To better understand what Best – in Practice means, we need to consider four questions:


What is “best”?
“In” where?
How big is “practice”?
What comes after “best”?


More next post...


All The Best!



Bob



(c) copyright 2009
Performance Builders