The butterfly effect: How small changes transform your practice

A butterfly flaps its wings and, the metaphor goes, a storm forms thousands of miles away. Medical practices work the same way. How the phone gets answered, whether paperwork gets done before the patient arrives, whether anyone calls after an outpatient procedure: none of it looks like a strategic initiative, and all of it shows up later in patient satisfaction, treatment compliance and whether that patient comes back.

On this week’s Five Minute Practice Fix, Neil Baum, MD, applies the butterfly effect to the exam room and walks through seven small changes, from putting a mirror in front of the phone so staff can see themselves smile to holding a sacred open slot for urgent visits, that compound into better outcomes and stronger word of mouth.

Welcome to Five Minute Practice Fix, featuring instructional videos by physician and business of medicine expert Neil Baum, M.D. These videos are 5 to 10 minutes long and will provide practical ideas and suggestions that have been tested in his practice or used by other physicians, significantly improving the efficiency and productivity of their medical practices.

About Neil Baum, M.D.

Baum is a professor of clinical urology at Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the author of Marketing Your Clinical Practice: Ethically, Effectively, Economically, which is in its fourth edition, has sold over 175,000 copies and has been translated into Spanish. He has also written The Complete Business Guide to a Successful Medical Practice, which was published in 2015. He also authored What’s Going on Down There?, which has served as a guide for women’s health. He has written 10 books on practice management and the business of medicine.

Baum was the columnist for American Medical News for more than 25 years. He wrote the popular column “The Bottom Line” for Urology Times for more than 20 years. He has authored or coauthored over 250 articles in peer-reviewed medical publications on various urologic topics, as well as articles on practice management.

He has also authored The Business Basics of Building and Managing a Healthcare Practice (Springer 2019), which emphasizes the importance of being involved in the business of a medical practice.