LMS Provides Members with Business Focused Programs
By Christopher Hickey, LMS EVP/CEO
A common observation by our members is one subject that wasn’t covered in medical school was business management. Many of our members entered private practices, highly skilled to administer medical care, but lacking the background to manage the business. The Lexington Medical Society has initiated two programs to support our members’ business knowledge: “Leadership of the Business of Medicine,” and the “Private Practice Business Forum.” Both programs received positive evaluations by our members.
The “Leadership of the Business of Medicine” is a partnership between the Lexington Medical Society and the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics Don & Cathy Jacobs Executive Education Center. We have been working with Lorna Patches, the Director of U.K.-UofL Executive MBA program, to design our program. Gatton tailors the “Leadership of the Business of Medicine” topics specifically for our physician members. Gatton conducts two business workshops for LMS a year, one in the fall and the other in the spring. The workshops are conducted at Gatton’s beautiful, modern, high-tech class rooms on Saturday mornings and are accredited for 4 hours of AMA PRA Category 1 CME. Gatton provides a continental breakfast, one of the MBA instructors, and the curriculum. Our pilot program was on negotiations in the Spring of 2017. The next workshop, in the fall of 2017, was on understanding financial statements and contracts. Our most recent workshop, in the spring of 2018, was on strategic planning and management. Over three dozen LMS members have participated in these workshops. The next two topics, in the fall of 2018 and spring of 2019, are on healthcare finance (including cost/benefit analysis and cost/effectiveness analysis) and healthcare economics (with a focus on how insurance markets operate). The workshops are over a $300 value, but provided at no charge to our members.
A program idea that developed from our Leadership of the Business of Medicine participants is the Private Practice Business Forum. During one of our workshops, a common observation was wouldn’t it be great if we can get colleagues in other private practices together to discuss topics of mutual interests in an informal setting. LMS took this idea and created this program. Our first program was on how to conduct a private practice monthly financial review and was led by Adam Shewmaker, Porter Roberts, and Stefan Hendrickson of Dean Dorton Allen Ford. They reviewed revenue cycle management, accounting and financial management, and what key performance indicators they should key on. The forum was hosted at LMS and included a catered dinner.
LMS will ensure you are aware of future Leadership of the Business of Medicine and Private Practice Business Forums through our newsletters, website, and social media.
