40 Practical Dermatology May 2005

I f asked what you would like your practice to look like bythe year 2010, you probably could come up with severalimprovements, such as staff and equipment changes oraddition, or perhaps a new venture, such as expanding intocosmetic procedures. Although each change differs in mag-

nitude and in the resources required to implement it, each changeis built on the belief that it will benefit your practice in one wayor another.

Strategic planning plays a central role in helping your practicemove into the next level of performance success. For this reason,it is especially important to set goals. Once your practice is estab-lished and is ready for growth, it’s time to look beyond day-to-dayoperations and to start thinking about how you want the practiceto look in the years to come. Being able to clearly envision anddescribe what you want your practice to look like in five years willassist you in making daily decisions and in setting immediate aswell as short- and long-term goals.

Before you can map out goals for your practice,you need to take a realistic look at where yourpractice stands and where you want to take it.

2nd Annual Business Issue

May 2005 Practical Dermatology 41

By Rebecca Anwar, PhD Philadelphia

Why You Need a PlanThe term strategic planning can be rather daunting; after all, we’retalking about the future of your practice. However, if you feelyour practice has already established a foothold in the marketand is ready for growth, developing a strategic plan is essential toachieving your goals and maintaining or improving your marketposition. Understand, however, that a strategic plan differs fromyour practice’s business plan, although the two plans should cer-tainly be linked. In addition, it’s important to recognize that yourbusiness plan is often used to put the strategic plan into action.

While your business plan is typically your one-year agendathat focuses on day-to-day management and operations, yourstrategic plan is a three- to five-year overview that envisions whatyour practice will look like in the future. Strategic planning is notsomething you initiate the first day you open the doors to yourpractice. Instead, if you’re a young dermatologist starting a solopractice, focus on developing and honing your business plan.Only after you’ve been in practice for at least three years youshould start thinking about developing a strategic plan.

Although the term itself can be intimidating, in actuality, awritten strategic plan is nothing more than a roadmap for yourpractice, elucidating the path to stability and growth. Specifically,a strategic plan will help you develop a clear picture of your prac-tice by answering three key questions:

• Where does the practice stand today?

• Where do I want to go?• How will I get there?Only once you have honestly and critically assessed your prac-

tice’s current status can you realistically determine where youwant to go and what you need to get there. Let’s take a closerlook at what steps you can take to gain the insight needed to setviable short- and long-term goals.

Step 1: Determine Your PurposeTo initiate the strategic planning process, consider holding aretreat that will bring together key individuals within the prac-tice, such as the practice owner, partners, practice manager, andkey employees. Usually, this will involve no more than six to 12individuals. Make this a time of open, honest discussion aboutthe practice, and specifically use this strategic planning session tobring insights and expertise to bear or to see new opportunitiesyou may not have thought about for the practice. Hold theretreat away from the office in a neutral, relaxed environmentthat is free of distractions and interruptions. The goal of thisretreat is to stimulate candid discussion that focuses on whateach individual values about the practice, why he/she believes thepractice exists, and how he/she views its future. Often practiceshire a professional facilitator who will help break the ice, spurcreativity, and keep track of ideas.

Based on this discussion, formulate or modify a mission state-

Strategic Planning

42 Practical Dermatology May 2005

Strategic plan: A roadmap for your practice, elucidating the path to growth, stability, and success.

Business plan: Encompasses your day-to-day management and operational strategy. Differs from strategic plan.

Mission statement: A succinct description that conveys in two to three sentences why the practiceexists and what the practice wants to achieve.

SWOT analysis: Analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of/for the practice.

Strategic planning leader: Individual designated to educate all practice stakeholders on the strategic planning process, which will help to overcome any uncertainty.

Immediate goals: Goals that can be accomplished within six to 12 months.

Short-term goals: Goals that can be accomplished within 12 to 24 months.

Long-term goals: Goals that can be accomplished within three to five years.

A Strategic Planning GlossaryA Strategic Planning Glossary

May 2005 Practical Dermatology 43

ment. This statement should succinctly describe in two to threesentences why the practice exists and what the practice wants toachieve. Having a meaningful mission statement will give yourpractice direction and focus and will aid decision-making byhelping you and other decision-makers stay focused, particularlyduring difficult times.

Consider holding the retreat over a day and a half, rather thanjust one day. Many ideas and thoughts will be shared during thefirst day, and I find it beneficial to have time to “sleep” on whathas been said before reaching any conclusions. While the retreatis ideal, an alternative, especially for smaller practices, may be tohave an informal get-together in someone’s home to discuss andassess new opportunities and the future of the practice.

Step 2: Critique Your PracticeOnce your practice has a mission state-ment, the next step is to assess yourpractice’s current standing, specificallyconcentrating on the practice’sstrengths, weaknesses, opportunities,and threats (SWOT analysis). Yourpractice’s strengths may include friendlyand efficient staff, short waiting times,laser services, or ample parking, whileweaknesses may include an antiquatedtelephone system, lack of parking spaces,difficulty getting an appointment, orlong waiting times. Opportunities caninclude opening a satellite office on theother side of town, bringing in a Mohssurgeon, or offering Botox treatments.Threats can include the arrival of a newdermatology group in your communityor an ENT or plastic surgeon offeringservices such as Botox, soft tissue fillers,or laser resurfacing.

A successful practice is one that understands and capitalizeson its strengths and takes advantage of its competitors’ weak-nesses. Recognition of your practice’s weakness and commit-ment to addressing these weaknesses is crucial as you move for-ward with your strategic planning process. To fully benefit froma SWOT analysis, open and honest assessment of your practiceand community is essential to gaining the information you needbefore you can move on to the actual goal-setting process.

The SWOT analysis should initially involve key stakeholders,but you may also want to consider soliciting the insight of officestaff not present at the retreat and even key patients. A well-designed survey is one particularly useful tool for reaching thesegroups. Since staff and patients may be hesitant to provide criti-cism, it may be helpful to involve a third party to oversee the sur-

vey process. Another approach you might want to consider isusing focus groups to gain insight from these individuals.

Step 3: Develop and Prioritize Your GoalsOnce you have a mission statement in place and a clear under-standing of your practice’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,and threats, you are ready to focus on the very heart of strategicplanning: developing and prioritizing goals. Using each of theSWOT elements, prioritize them and determine how they fitinto your practice’s mission. How you go about prioritizingdepends upon current pressures in your practice.

You might decide to focus on a weakness that is having a neg-ative effect on your practice such as office inefficiencies due tolack of up-to-date computer technology or even slow dictationand lost charts. On the other hand, you could focus on opportu-

nities for growth and how to get there. Byprioritizing, you often find that you can’tget where you want to go because you arebeing blocked by something that needsattention first.

Step 4: Prepare for ChangeOnce you have your priorities in order,the next step is to make sure that all prac-tice stakeholders are truly ready.Uncertainty and fear are common when-ever change is on the horizon, even if thechange is good. Before your practice canmove forward, it is critical that youaddress these feelings. Whether you oranother stakeholder assumes the leader-ship position in the strategic planningprocess, the leader must educate all prac-tice stakeholders on the process. This willhelp to overcome any uncertainty or fear

of change. Specifically, help all individuals to understand that astrategic plan is not set in stone, and that although written, it canbe changed and modified.

Make the Next MoveCertainly, all dermatologists desire to see their practices succeed;the difference lies in how you define success and what changes ornew ventures you believe will lead to success. Before you candetermine which ventures to pursue, you must determine whereyou stand. Once you have a clear, realistic picture of your prac-tice’s purpose, strengths, and weaknesses, you can determinewhere you want to go and how you will get there. Next month,we’ll look at developing realistic short- and long-term goals, tak-ing action, monitoring progress, and most importantly, meetingthose goals.

Uncertainty

and fear are

common

whenever change

is on the horizon,

even if the

change is good.