Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/233760
As the practice grew, it was less expensive to run on a per-doctor basis. So I went to the gas station and bought a map, and I outlined all of the counties and looked at where all the dermatologists were, where all the population bases were, and wrote a business plan, and said, 'Hey, all of Northeast Wisconsin is underserved.'" – D r . K e n K at z upon quality of care, customer service and reputation." The call center staff receives customer service training once a month, for example, and clinical front desk receptionists don't answer phones when you're checking in for your appointment, Bertler says. "We always believed that when that happens – a receptionist answering a phone when you have been waiting – is like having someone cut in front of the line," he says. "To alleviate this we have a central nursing department in Manitowoc where phone calls are answered. Our goal is to have all phone calls answered within three rings. We also elected to implement having a person answer the phone instead of having our patients go through a 'telephone directory tree' as we believe this is simply better customer service." Dermatology Associates also prides itself on quick turnaround, Ken Katz says. "If you go in to see a doctor and he says, 'Oh, you might have cancer on your face,' and they do a biopsy or take a sample of it, you don't want to sit around for two weeks to figure it out. You want to know in two days." The company also has been successful because of its focus on doctors, the Katzes say. "We make sure that all the doctors are fully supported "He likes to say, if you're not going up, you're going down, and he has a very internal drive to make things happen." Tricia Wagner 26 | Insight • J a n u a r y 2 014 with a medical staff team and a support team so that all they have to do is diagnose, treat and take care of patients," Ken Katz says. Amy Katz, who met Ken Katz while working as a histotechnician (examining human tissue) at Penn State, had an idea how to run a practice more efficiently. While he was completing a one-year fellowship in Mohs surgery (in which cancerous tissue is removed while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible), she prepared the manuals, policies and procedures that still stand today. "Because I was a medical assistant, because I brought that aspect to it, we were able to weed out a lot of unnecessary things that doctors don't really need to focus on," tasks the medical staff or nurses can do, Amy Katz says. "So we set up procedures and wound care sheets and everything to make life easier for the doctor – which, in return, means the patient visit is a lot better." Initially, the practice experienced turnover because some staff resisted the higher expectations, which they assuaged by introducing responsibility more gradually. "I'm gung-ho, and Ken's gung-ho, and sometimes it's a little bit too much to ask of someone right off the bat," Amy Katz says. "So we just had to implement more of a training process." Since then, they've found it's been a successful way to run the practice, Amy Katz says. "All the doctors love it, and the nurses love it because they actually get to do a lot and they learn a lot." Dermatology Associates' doctors can become owners/ shareholders in the practice after about two years, and everyone who has been with the company long enough to qualify as an owner has become one, except for a doctor with longtime experience who isn't sure when he'll retire, says Ken Katz. The for-profit model, common among most nonhospital-based medical clinics, incentivizes doctors to control costs. It also encourages physician shareholders to commit long-term to the organization, he says. As the organization grew, it cost less to operate per phone call, per visit, per clinic, he says. w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m