The perks of corporate aviation. Considering Jim and I were able to be in Boise for a meeting bright and early, work til 2 o’clock and then be airborne and heading for Montana paints a pretty good picture of how a company like MedMan can use a tool like Columbus. Such a trip on the airlines would have been an all day affair with a pretty good chance of a significant delay in there somewhere. We even arrived in time to accomplish and afternoon meeting at the hospital in Kalispell followed by a dinner with doctors.

The second half of a 33 hour and 47 minute tour of the Northwest started bright and early today with breakfast, a meeting with senior level management and  a CEO who we wanted to impress, a hospital tour and a then nice flight over to Moses lake. Non-stop 1 hour and 18 minutes at a cruising altitude of 12000 on top of a cloud layer in the crystal clear blue sky. On the ground by 1:45pm.

So, now here we are in Moses Lake, WA. This stop is a quick one. Long enough for a bite to eat at my old stomping grounds, Big Bend Community College. Jim and I seemed to accomplish a lot over a turkey sandwich and a salad. Out come the Blackberry’s and we have ourselves a productive session about up coming projects and what I have on my plate.  He goes one way and I go another.  I take off for Boise after the C-17 clears the traffic pattern. Crazy to see one of the biggest airplanes in the world doing touch-and-goes.

1 hour and 20 minutes later I touchdown in Boise with a decent landing by pilot standards. The airplane gets put away and I take a minute to reflect on a productive round trip via Montana and Washington. No luggage lost, no stale peanuts you had to pay for and no unexplainable delays. Columbus treats us right again with an efficient, productive and safe trip through familiar MedMan stomping grounds.

PNWU and MedMan Form Collaboration

PNWU is located in Yakima, WA

Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences and Medical Management (MedMan), a medical group management business based in Boise, Idaho, have strikingly similar missions – to improve and create access for quality healthcare throughout the Northwest, particularly in rural and underserved communities.

MedMan achieves this by managing medical groups (hospital and doctor owned practices); PNWU is achieving this through programs that increase the number of physicians practicing family medicine in rural communities.

For this reason, PNWU and MedMan are teaming up to provide College of Osteopathic students with core rotation and residency sites in MedMan managed clinics and hospitals. Currently, MedMan has clinics and a site location in every community PNWU anticipates sending students for core rotations.

“There is incredible synergy between PNWU and MedMan,” Vice President for Advancement and Development Gretchen Eickmeyer said. “We have been looking for this kind of a partnership because it integrates students into the communities they are practicing medicine in. Our students have the opportunity to go from their core rotations into residencies and ultimately practice medicine in the communities they have been immersed in.”

The College of Osteopathic Medicine requires core rotations in family medicine, general internal medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics, general surgery, women’s health (OB/GYN), osteopathic manual medicine, radiology and anesthesiology.

Nicole, physicians & friends enjoying a post-Planning dinner.

I appreciate doctors who plan. Benton Franklin Orthopedic Associates is a physician-owned medical group of five orthopedic surgeons and one physician assistant, or PA. They are based in Kennewick, Washington and happen to be one of MedMan’s longest-running clients. We’ve been working with this group since 2001 and it’s been interesting to see the progression of this practice over that time.

Landing in Palm Springs

Last night, we kicked off our 2010 planning session in sunny Palm Springs, California. This group has committed themselves to getting off-sight – out of the hassles of day-to-day life which can be all too hard to ignore when you’re on your own turf. We started off by reviewing what we call the “Plan Matrix”. It’s basically the overview and progression of each year’s Plan. It’s interesting to look back over the years when ideas like integrating physical therapy and building an ASC were simply on the ‘someday/maybe’ list. Those things are now showing up in the ‘done’ category and it’s gratifying to know that MedMan has been a part of that progress.

I enjoy listening to them process non-clinical information too. So much of our interactions with doctors are clinical. It’s interesting to see how their minds work when you ask them questions about employee satisfaction, risk management, and business operations. Let’s face it – they are smart people and often-times more well-rounded and thought-provoking than they get credit for being.

In the 9 years that we’ve been partnering with BFOA, there was one year where no planning occurred. As new clients, maybe they didn’t feel like they needed to go through the exercise of again creating a strategic plan when they had just done one the year before. In talking to the doctors, they commented that the process of not planning made them realize how important it actually was. They’ve been regularly planning ever since and welcome the opportunity to get away and really focus on ways to improve their business…a business that allows them the opportunity to deliver high quality medical care to patients.

Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences and MedMan have strikingly similar missions – to improve and create access for quality healthcare in the Northwest. MedMan achieves this by managing medical groups; PNWU is achieving this through their program to increase the number of physicians practicing family medicine in rural communities. In this interview, Dr. Stan Flemming, President of PNWU, discusses how our two organizations are working together on a common vision.

When I joined the MedMan team this past January, one of the interview questions Jim asked me was, “Are you comfortable flying on a small, 4-seater plane?”  I’ve always been pretty comfortable flying, so I said yes while wondering in the back of my mind exactly how small he meant.  Now, six months later, I’ve flown twice on Columbus (our nickname for the Columbia 400 we hire when needed) and I can say with confidence that it’s the only way to fly!

Besides feeling pretty cool walking out on the tarmac and boarding what is basically a small car with wings, Columbus is a strategic business decision for our company.  Understandably, many first reactions when we tell people about Columbus are a little incredulous.  I can see how some may view a small company like ours employing the services of a private plane as an extravagance, especially in this economy.  As a regional company, however, Columbus really enables us to meet the needs of our clients faster and more efficiently.  As a result, we get more work done.  And that means growth for our company.

As the recruiter for MedMan, part of my job is to conduct a site visit near the beginning of our recruitment process.  Usually, I am accompanied by other members of our team who are providing additional services, which means the cost is spread out among multiple people who would’ve otherwise purchased commercial flights individually.

On our way to our destination, we have the ability to review key objectives of the visit or catch up on other businesses.  Many of our clinics are in rural communities, so landing right in the town we are visiting cuts down on overall travel time, allowing us to spend more time at the practice.  The ability to fly back to Boise after a day of hard work eliminates the need for luggage, hotel rooms, or the cost of additional meals.   Multiply all of that by three team members, and you can clearly being to see the advantage of employing Columbus.

It doesn’t always make sense to fly Columbus when we’re responding to clients’ needs.  Driving, flying commercially, or meeting virtually via our web teleconferencing system are all other ways in which we connect with clients when it makes more sense.  As a Northwest company, our ability to respond to clients from Port Angeles to Rexburg in the same week – quickly – is reassuring for both clinic leadership and staff and reinforces our commitment and dedication to their practice.

MedMan was recently featured in Idaho’s largest newspaper, the Idaho Statesman! The article, titled “A Boise company finds success – and makes employees happy – by doing business digitally”, can be read in its entirety here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/785245.html