Question

There has been significant consolidation in healthcare practices with mergers and acquisitions with private equity firms and hospitals absorbing small practices into their portfolio. For individual practices, how does this change how the doctors manage their business? What do the doctors need to consider doing in order to be competitive?  

Answer 1

As mentioned in the question, there are several acquisitions happening both materialstically and other ways. The world needs every professionals including doctors to be advanced constantly.

Things that doctors needs to consider to be competitive:

• Always upgrade yourselves. The treatment modes and medicines are being upgraded each day and many micro organisms and Diseases are being discovered constantly. Therefore the doctor needs to upgraded constantly in this regard this can be achieved by learning from internet, reading journals, attending CMEs and seminars and webinars. These are the main sources where a doctor can upgrade his knowledge and run with time. Attending seminars and CME also gives the doctor a chance to know more people from the same field and it helps to be more popular.
• Another one thing a doctor can do is work under established doctors and institutions this will also helps the doctor to enhance the knowledge and acquire more practice and develop himself and his private practitioning.
• The doctor can also work in places where the patients comes a lot. Like established institutions and government clinics and hospitals. This will help him increase his fame among the local people and let them know what he is capable of. By doing so, these people will come searching for him next time wherever he works, even to his private clinics. This will increase his patient flow and become more competitive.
• Another thing the doctor needs to aware of is that his equipments should be upgraded. With new technologies coming, it will be easier and useful to use modern equipments in his clinics and it also lures more patients.
• He should also partner with other doctors so as to improve his competitiveness. They could refer certain people to him and he can do the same for them and help each other.

All these steps are really good ideas that can be taken to be competitive in th field