In our daily clinical practice, we check our patients’ vital signs all the time. What about “checking the vitals” of your own practice? 

Just like for human beings, the vital signs are the measurables that can quickly tell you the most crucial wellbeing of your practice-- the 4 C’s:

1. Cash Flow

If “Cash is King”, then “Cash Flow is Queen”-- as in the most powerful chess piece on the chessboard! Cash flow can be measured in the following categories:

• Accounts Receivable 
• Accounts Payable
• Liquidity
• Accessible Credits

1. Clientele/ Good Will

The “good will” of a medical practice can be assessed by the following parameters: 

• Patient panel size
• # Patients seen daily or weekly
• The third next available appointment
• No show rate

1. Customer Satisfaction / Reputation

How happy are your patients about you and/or your practice? 

Under the Universal Health Care model in Canada,...

Whether we like it or not, we physicians are being rated everyday either individually or as a profession-- from the popular RateMD website which many patients frequent, to PAR (Peer Assessment Reviews) from our Colleges. 

In fact, there are multiple batteries of assessment of Physician Performance, e.g.: 

• 360 Degree Physician Performance Assessment, 
• Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), 
• Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS)

So, what are the top 3 attributes your patients want from you?

1. Aptitude
2. Attitude
3. Accessibility

And of these 3 As, which one do you think ranks as the most important?

Surprisingly, aptitude is NOT on the top, despite what traditional med schools or residency programs have trained us to believe. 

During malpractice complaints/ lawsuits, most MDs get pardoned for their incompetence if their attitude was great and they have been accessible to patients. Conversely, MDs get the harshest...