{"id":7404,"date":"2025-12-04T11:10:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/?p=7404"},"modified":"2026-02-09T10:17:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T16:17:25","slug":"it-all-goes-back-to-the-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/it-all-goes-back-to-the-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Lisa: It All Goes Back to the Goal!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"theory<\/p>\n

I recently took a book off my bookshelf to re-read \u2026<\/p>\n

The Goal<\/em> by Eliyahu M. Goldratt is one of my favorite business books. I love that Eli drives home being human, while at the same time having great capacity to improve systems and procedures in the workplace. As a business owner this relates directly to you.<\/p>\n

Keep reading to learn how.<\/p>\n

A few key takeaways from the book and how this ongoing process can help YOU improve your collections and income include:<\/p>\n

Keeping in mind<\/strong> that the true goal of any for-profit company is to make money now and in the future<\/strong>. Two features of this are:<\/p>\n

All operational decisions are evaluated based on whether they help achieve this goal.
\nPerformance measurement is framed around three metrics:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Throughput, or productivity<\/strong> (Service productivity is reflected in your NP, PV, charges, and collections stats)<\/li>\n
  2. Inventory<\/strong> (making purchases intended to sell, such as supplements, pillows, exercise rehab supplies; and<\/li>\n
  3. Operational Expense<\/strong>, which is money you spend to turn your inventory into productivity. This can include your practice management program and billing program\u2019s monthly payments, maintaining and enhancing the office space, and maintaining functional chiropractic equipment such as your adjusting tables.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, what specific actions can help you achieve the true goal for your business?<\/p>\n

    1. Identify constraints<\/strong> or bottlenecks in the office.<\/p>\n

    a. Look at time studies of the doctor(s) and staff. Can scheduling be done differently to open up blocks of time for more patients and\/or paperwork.<\/p>\n

    b. Look for a breakdown in policies and procedures. How can it be done more effectively with better results?<\/p>\n

    2.<\/strong> Second, maximize and support<\/strong> the constraint,<\/p>\n

    a. decrease interruptions;<\/p>\n

    b. delegate tasks that are not directly clinical;<\/p>\n

    c. work on office flow for greater capacity.<\/p>\n

    3. Take note of variables.<\/strong> When a variable is presented such as doctor or staff
    \nvacation and holidays , make adjustments to accommodate and still maintain your
    \ngoals.<\/p>\n

    4. Repeat steps 1 through 3<\/strong>, and you\u2019ll find another constraint\/bottleneck to work
    \nthrough.<\/p>\n

    It may not feel good at first, but each time you cycle through the steps, according to the theory of constraints, you actually are improving the quality of your practice and its value!<\/p>\n

    Want to learn more about specific action steps for identifying bottlenecks and improving your collections and income? Give us a call. We\u2019ve got your back. Just Ask . . .<\/p>\n

    Lisa
    \nlisa@pmaworks.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

    PS: Another great book that directly relates to this topic is \u201cThe Goal Driven Business<\/span><\/a>” by Ed Petty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I recently took a book off my bookshelf to re-read \u2026 The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt is one of my favorite business books. I love that Eli drives home being human, while at the same time having great capacity … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[176,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chiropractic-2","category-practice-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7404"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7463,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7404\/revisions\/7463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}