MGMA-AMA encourage collaboration to solve health care challenges

Almost 350 physicians, practice administrators, and other health care leaders met in Colorado Springs, Colo., March 20-22 for the inaugural Collaborate in Practice Conference, sponsored by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and the American Medical Association.

The event was billed as a way to help practices better handle the many challenges facing medicine through better teamwork, leadership, and collaboration among physicians, other clinicians, managers, and other partners.

Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, president and CEO of MGMA, said that health care can’t just confront change but needs to control it or, better yet, lead the way.

Breakout sessions focused on such topics as making team meetings more effective, refining and reinforcing your practice’s culture, finding ways to give patients more access so they don’t gravitate to other providers, and increasing physician engagement to fend off burnout.

Some takeaways from the sessions:

• 71 percent of malpractice suits are tied to miscommunication and poor physician-patient relationships. Practices should focus on fighting dysfunction within teams, defusing toxic relationships that can affect patient care, and create the kind of supportive environment where patients are more likely to share their own personal or social issues that could influence treatment. – Monica Broome, MD

• All team meetings should have a specific purpose and goal. Meetings are a vital sign for your organization, and useless or unsuccessful meetings may reflect a structural problem within the practice. – Steven Bromer, MD

• Practice administrators or physician leaders will have more success changing clinician behavior by appealing to their mastery, autonomy, and sense of purpose. Framing a change simply as a response to regulatory requirements is not helpful. – Stephen Beeson, MD

• To increase patient satisfaction, have nurses call patients the day after a visit, which can either make a satisfied patient even happier or give a dissatisfied patient a chance to complain before it becomes more work for the practice; take advantage of the perceived connection between cleanliness and good care by keeping your office clean; make sure the receptionist always makes eye contact with the patient upon entering; and try to give patients the appointment times they want so you don’t run the risk of the patient showing up late and throwing off your entire schedule. – William Faber, MD

• Leaders should not feel the need to be perfect in all facets of leadership. Instead, they should lead with their strengths, such as execution or motivation, and rely on their team to make up for their weaknesses. – Wayne Guerra, MD

• When done correctly, incorporating health care information technology into your practice can improve patient engagement, physician workflow, and, ultimately, physician happiness. Introduce technology innovations slowly, aim for short-term gains, but ultimately lay the groundwork for big wins down the road. – Lyle Berkowitz, MD