Bravo to Dr. Catherine Landers of Illinois! I came across her story in Medical Economics and wanted to celebrate her feisty approach to overhauling her practice instead of giving up, as it appears she was close to doing. 

The lessons I took home from the tale of her practice turnaround were:

Be prepared to say "no". Dr. Landers said "no" to lousy insurance plans, lackadaisical billing company service, and even her new practice associate. I imagine she sweated bullets over some of her choices, but she followed through on what she believed was right for her practice, by making business and not emotional decisions.

Make smart investments in your business. What are the correct investments to make in your business, that will boost profitability, despite their upfront costs? They could be item such as the billing and coding software and training that Dr. Landers invested in. Or the EMR that she is planning, to free up time and boost her reimbursements.

Be creative. By attending risk management seminars and agreeing to chart audits, Dr. Landers was able to reduce her malpractice premiums. Or, by phoning lab results to patients instead of mailing them, Dr. Landers estimates she's saving about $1500 a year in mailing costs.

Get buy-in from your staff. I'm reading between the lines in the article, but it seems that Dr. Landers found ways to involve her staff in the change process. And while some of the changes, such as to the retirement plan, impacted the staff negatively, she found ways to compensate for that and keep her employees satisfied.

Expect the best from your patients. Practicing physicians are often concerned that the changes they'd like to make in their practices will drive patients away. In Dr. Landers' case, while some patients left because of the changes, most seem to have stayed on. My bet, if she is as smart as she sounds, is that a big part of her work has been building the trust and confidence of her patients, by providing a personal touch that patients would find hard to walk away from.

Who has other tips for physicians looking for prescriptions to build healthy practices?