Medical Journal Houston Vol. 10, Issue 11, February 2014 | Page 3

Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical Journal -.Houston. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . February 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVES BY REED TINSLEY, CPA, CVA, CFP, CHBC The medical practice world is full of uncertainties. We can’t keep up with the regulations, audits, reimbursement changes, meaningful use stages, and so much more, so why would we want to plan? While it is true that there are uncertainties in our world, you can only operate in a reactive mode if you don’t take the time to plan. In this environment, reaction equals crisis, which means potentially wrong decisions would be made affecting both the short- and longterm survival and success of your practice. Strategic planning as a process implies a look at the future and anticipation of changes that may occur based on both past and anticipated future performance. Your practice mission statement, values, and past performance will dictate to a degree how you will respond to future events. Planning techniques Strategic planning – Where is your ship headed? All physicians and key decision-makers of the practice should meet with a planning facilitator for the purposes of taking a serious look at the practice’s future. One way to do this is to set up a planning retreat. During an annual planning retreat, decisionmakers typically conduct a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). They can then expand on their analysis to construct a bigger-picture look at their practice’s projected future. One approach is to use a significant planning tool called “scenario planning.” Key decision-makers ask themselves, “What are the most likely scenarios that could affect the practice in the future?” Scenario planning posits that there could be four different possibilities which should be considered now, but not yet acted upon. These types of scenarios when placed on a matrix could be represented by a y-axis of growth and an x-axis of stability. For example: The four-part matrix could be )