BUSINESS

Preparation key to putting out "fires"

Practice Management. By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. Nov. 22/29, 2004.

A column about keeping your practice in good health

When the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx was recalled a couple of months ago, many practices felt the brunt of panicked patients and extra phone calls. That meant loads of unexpected work for office staff.

The staff at Tri Rivers Surgical Associates Inc. in Pennsylvania, however, was ready and waiting.

Shortly after the recall was announced, the group had information posted on its Web site. It sent letters to patients taking the medication, a list of whom was efficiently extracted from the group's database. And just in case calls would still come in droves, a toll-free number to provide recorded information about the drug was ready to be activated.

"We wanted to protect our human assets," said D. Kelly Agnew, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and managing partner of the group. "Because of the letters and Web site, we kept it from being a telephone disaster."

When it comes to running a practice, there are very few offices that go beyond the bare-bones approach. To protect margins, you can't afford to pay overhead expenses you don't need, like superfluous office staff to help out on busy afternoons. So what happens when there are fires to put out, such as the Vioxx recall or flu vaccine shortage, or extra tasks to do?

The key, physicians said, is to have a plan in place before you're overwhelmed. Anticipating questions and preempting any panic with a coordinated plan can keep disruptions to a minimum.

"What's interesting is you're trying to respond within the same set of resources that you've already trimmed," Dr. Agnew said. "There's not much capacity beyond the normal day-to-day work."

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