Barlow/McCarthy Blog
Check back often to hear from our talented team of consultants. Topics covered include: Physician Relations, Physician Recruitment, Practice Marketing, Medical Staff Development, Community Health Needs Assessments, etc.
A Checklist to Consider How Ideas are Processed Internally
By Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA "It is one thing to have a great idea – it is quite another to see your idea actually implemented. How often have you had a “brainstorm”, gotten excited, rushed in to share it with your boss, co-workers, family, etc. only to see their...
Data is your Friend
By David F. Zirkle, PhD While slow to penetrate many physician relations programs, the use of data to drive decision-making has now become the norm. Successful programs recognize data is a key ingredient to improve performance and maximize growth opportunities....
Effectively Leading Physician Relations
by Kriss Barlow, MBA, RN Just as best-practice organizations need capable field staff, so, too, do they need capable program leaders. Effective leaders balance their ability to look at the whole ladder, while never losing site of the individual rungs. The best...
Ensuring Physician Relations Gets the Credit
By Allison McCarthy, MBA Effectively measuring ROI on physician sales and retention activities requires two key elements - quantitative data and qualitative data. While producing the quantitative data has its own set of challenges, qualitative data trending and...
Getting Leadership’s Attention Through Innovative Reporting
By: Susan Boydell You’ve gone out into the field, talked with physicians, compiled actions steps and presented a volume of viable suggestions to leadership… And nothing happens. Now what? To make sure you don’t find yourself in that “Now what?” position, it’s...
Asking for the Business
by Kriss Barlow, MBA In sales circles, the topic of “the close” is always discussed. It seems fitting that we discuss this topic at the end of the year, as there are some similarities and of course, some vast differences in approaching the close. New sales staff are...
Communication to Keep Physicians in the Loop
Author: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA For almost every healthcare executive, managing change seems to be a daily obligation. Change means that people and departments are in a state of flux. What is all of this change doing to impact communication? Tremendous energy is being...
Creating a United Front for the External Stakeholder
By Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA Have you ever purchased an item only to learn that nobody is as eager to respond to service questions or implementation needs as they were to “do the deal?” In our household, it really hit home with a new TV and the remote. We need three...
Credibility in Communicating with Physicians
Author: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA While communication woes can happen with a variety of people, many in healthcare say they wish they felt more comfortable interacting with their medical staff. There's an inherent challenge in learning how to speak the language of the...
Developing a Regional Referral Strategy
Author: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA The original version of this article appeared in Healthcare Executive. Content has been updated to recognize the marketplace in 2009. To grow and sustain their business, many hospitals rely on inpatient tertiary care, and the competition...