Clinical Mentoring is a pathway to clinical excellence

I am always inspired by the enthusiasm of practitioners to improve their knowledge and skills. When we recently opened Lilydale Physio and Sports Medicine www.lpsm.com.au we had a mix of experience among our team.  From new graduates to those with more than 10 years' experience the opportunity was there to ensure that we focused not just on training our grads but also providing the opportunity for others to learn as mentees and have roles as clinical mentors. Megz is part of the team with experience and has spent the last few years helping others but not developing her own skills as much as she would like. I met with Megan and Laura (both joint practice equity holders) at Lilydale and we chatted about the process of learning and mentoring and how to get the best outcomes for both mentor and mentee.  I devote significant time to the achievement of clinical excellence in The Health Practitioners journey.  Clinical Mentoring is the pathway to clinical excellence. https://www.michaelkenihan.com.au/book

Both Megz and Laura are high performing physios clinically and eager to share their knowledge with others. This can be done in a random or ad hoc way with younger team members asking for assistance at times when treating someone. We try to assist in these cases and quick assistance can be provided but often those with expertise may be too busy to assist then and there. This means that we need to have a structure with all mentoring. Some ad hoc, just now, assistance can be provided but the bulk of mentoring needs to be applied in organised sessions of 45 to 60 mins with topics advised beforehand.

Mentoring sessions should always have both a clinical component where techniques are taught and demonstrated and a theory component where more complex cases are introduced and can be discussed where critical thinking and clinical reason can be encouraged and developed... Ideally the mentee can apply the learned technique to the mentor. If the mentee is well prepared, they will bring one of their own cases to the sessions and discuss them with their mentor.

Towards to end of our discussion Megz asked how we could mentor her. She felt that she had much to learn, and the opportunities had not been there recently for her to do so. To further assist Megz, we plan to organise leading therapists to come and visit and provide input to those with experience. Our other leaders with post graduate study behind them will add a higher level of mentoring to those who wish to avail themselves of such learning.

All clinics need to look how they can mentor their personnel more effectively. This is part and parcel of developing an empowered work environment and a way to improve the retention of your people and ensure that the results of treatment will be maximised for the patient’s benefit.

It takes time to become an effective mentor and the best way to develop the skill is to seek out persons to mentor you. Indeed, this is what I have strived to do in my career, and I hope to be able to instill in others the important role they can play in assisting others to learn and grow.

Stage Two for 1st-2nd Year Physiotherapy Graduates

In my book "The Health Practitioner's Journey," I outline four stages in a health professional's career. The second stage is Commercial Success. This entails maintaining a patient list consistently over 80% full, with referrals coming from various sources, including word of mouth. Through diligent efforts in achieving clinical excellence, this stage yields commercial success as patient lists and referrers grow.

Owning your patient list

Stage two is an ongoing process that can set the groundwork for starting your own business. At this point, I discuss a practitioner "owning" their patient list, a figurative term signifying patient loyalty, where they would follow you if you moved from your current practice. This loyalty is established through advocacy, as patients recommend you to others, as detailed in the ladder of loyalty in my book. 

During this stage, you become more aware of the conditions and patients you wish to treat, possibly developing a unique selling proposition. For example, targeting specific referrers, like a sports club, can help you focus on treating athletes.

The journey to commercial success

Working towards commercial success is a rewarding part of a practitioner’s  journey. Treating more patients, enhancing clinical skills through courses and mentorship, and staying informed through reading all contribute to your success. You may find yourself sought after for specific niches or invited to speak at events, reflecting your professional development. It's crucial not to become complacent; hence, developing strategic plans to nurture existing referrers and attract new ones becomes vital in this stage. While seeking new referrers is important, understanding the associated risks and benefits for the referrer is equally crucial, this allows you to establish trust and  a strong relationship. I dedicate a portion of my book to discussing managing the benefits and risks associated with gaining referrers. These are integral aspects of becoming a commercially successful healthcare practitioner.

Methods for improvement

I have mentored numerous practitioners on achieving commercial success. After collaborating with my colleague Jon Ford to implement a clinical mentoring program during our tenure at LifeCare, we shifted our focus to enhancing practitioners' commercial awareness. The process primarily involved gaining buy-in and understanding meaningful key performance indicators (KPIs).

Jon and I developed what we believed would be useful measures, including:

• The average revenue generated per practitioner hour.

• The average number of patients seen per hour.

• The average revenue per consultation or the average fee charged.

The introduction of these KPIs provided practitioners with a baseline from which to work. A managing director of the listed company network at that time advised me that creating meaningful KPIs and actively monitoring them would lead to improvement. This is precisely what we observed. We ensured that the KPIs were easily accessible for practitioners to review monthly, leading to increased engagement. We witnessed their commercial improvement, and the enhanced KPIs became a proxy for growth.

We combined the KPI approach with a planning document titled "Achieving Your Career Objectives," which I have included in the appendix of my book 'The Health Practitioner's Journey'. This document helped practitioners plan their quarterly objectives for improvement. Goal-setting and planning encompassed not only clinical aspects but also their referrer base and targets for increasing referrers. Teaching them to utilise their time more productively in both clinical and non-clinical aspects further boosted their productivity.

To illustrate the impact of these activities, we devised a league table for the network, highlighting those who generated the highest dollars per hour KPI. We realised that those with the highest numbers were also among the acknowledged best clinically. While not entirely surprising, this revelation served as motivation for all and confirmed that clinical excellence leads to commercial success.

I trust this glimpse provides a taste of the comprehensive details in my book about this stage of your journey. 

My book is available on my website, www.michaelkenihan.com.au or from Amazon.

M.A.Kenihan

The Health Practitioners Journey Model

When I was planning  the structure for my book, “The Health Practitioners Journey” I thought about how a career in health practice usually unfolds. I thought it would be easier to explain by breaking it down into four stages.

Stage 1

The foundation of a successful career needs to be one of becoming as clinically excellent as possible.

Whomever I worked with, I reinforced that initial credibility as a practitioner comes from having a degree of mastery of the technical/clinical aspect of the craft. I also advise that years 1 and 2 from graduation are not about focussing on what you earn as the primary goal, but on building your clinical ability.

Stage two

Focus on commercial success where you start earning more and become busy.

The focus for stage two becomes more about developing referral relationships and gaining return patients. There needs to be some training from mentors and others for this stage. Maybe even some short courses that relate to commercial matters of customer service, finance and business development.

Stage three

Direct your career towards starting your own business to maximise equity.

This stage may not be for everyone. If you are comfortable with stage two and earning a satisfactory salary then you may choose to continue practicing where you are but if drawn to start something for yourself, commence a new challenge and apply the new knowledge then stage three maybe a natural progression for you.

Stage four

Leverage your asset by selling the business.

At some point you may want to realise the value of your asset by selling the business. You may continue working but with the business you started in the hands of someone with new energy. Stage four may mean retirement but may also be about new opportunities too.

If you have worked hard in the stages outlined above along the journey you will have harvested knowledge. Such knowledge will be invaluable as you move on to new challenges or want to grow the assets you have created

I use the metaphor of the “list “ as practice clinicians have a “list of patients/clients” that they see, particularly in private practice. In stage one you build the list, then in stage two you own your list, in stage three you lead your list, and finally in stage four you sell your list.

The notation at the base of the model indicates a timeline but this was never meant to be interpreted as tightly linear, many practitioners dip in and out of the stages or stop at a point in the journey where they find their satisfaction.

As I mused about the stages of the journey, I thought that perhaps the best way to convey the stages was by developing a model for the journey. That model is the essence of this book.