When I did ask why, Dr. Fischer gave me his impactful insight. As a pulmonologist / intensivist he was getting frustrated that in many of the hospital locations where he needed to talk to patients or their families he had no place to sit so that he could be at eye level in order to better connect. After much “due diligence” he selected a $9.95 chair that is now a constant companion on his hospital rounds. He opines, “This $9.95 chair positively impacts quality patient care more than this computer.”

Long ago there was a request to purchase a significant amount of paperclips. Normally an order like this would just be blindly placed, and routinely paid for. This time I said no. I asked, “why do we need so many new paperclips? What happened to the old ones? They don’t wear out, where do they go?” I further challenged the staff to figure this out. I told them my theory: most of the time, a paperclip goes from department to department, as paperwork gets passed around. Chances are, we have some departments that send a lot of paperclips (and therefore run out of them), and others that receive a lot of paperclips (and therefore collect them). So I asked people to consider where they send most of their paperclips, and to find out the supply on hand in that department.

Lo and behold, they found that a lot of paperwork (bound by paperclips) is sent to our lab. And….you guessed it….our lab had piles of paperclips filling up a drawer. In fact, during this simple process, when the lab staff was approached about having the paperclips retrieved, the response was, “oh good, we were about to start throwing those away, we get so many and they take up a whole drawer.”

Yet, before this discovery, we kept ordering paperclips month after month.

A minor expense, to be sure, but it is all about the thought process. How many supplies and instruments are ordered as a matter of routine just because someone, or some department, is low on inventory? If we allow (or teach) our staff that when you run out of something –just re-order it, we may be wasting money (and drawer space). And if you can get your staff to think about small things like paperclips, you can easily get them to stop and think about any re-order (we found a similar result with internal envelopes-some people send ‘em, some people receive ‘em). And pretty soon people start re-considering bigger ticket items. Do we really need to replace that broken copier? Does everyone in this department really need a larger computer monitor? Do we really need all those different colors of copy paper?

Now, we spend less on paperclips than we used to. I’m assuming we spend less on other things as well. So I don’t get offended when I hear the jokes; it means someone is giving a second thought before placing an order.

Currently, we use Cisco’s WebEx to meet “face-to-face.”  It is such a part of our company, we’ve internally branded it as “Think Tank, MedMan’s Brainstorming Place.”   Many companies use this software for sales presentations, trainings, or web demos.  We use it as one of our office meeting rooms for all-employee meetings, monthly reviews, educational trainings, and other one-on-one or group meetings.

There are a lot of things we really like about Think Tank, including the integration with Outlook, ability to share our desktop or remote control each other’s PC, and ease of scheduling meetings.  I occasionally research other online meeting and video conferencing products (like Polycom) to make sure WebEx is the best fit for our needs, and for now Think Tank seems to be the most affordable, practical solution.

One of the downsides to Think Tank is that it is geared toward one-person-in-front-of-their-computer to another-person-in-front-of-their-computer.   With so much work done by teams these days, we’d really like to have the ability for a group of us in Idaho to all be in one room and meeting with a group of people in Alaska (or Oregon, or Washington…) that are also all in one room.

The other day I saw a commercial for Umi, a new Cisco product that is geared toward consumers.  It offers crisp, clear, large video via an HDTV and integrated audio, and is not quite as expensive as enterprise video conferencing systems.  It also integrates with Google Chat for people on the other end who might not have the hardware.

Imagine the possibilities for a small, virtual business!

It is easy to see how this could be a solution to our needs at MedMan, but at this point I’m just dreaming.  Still, I’d like to know what other virtual companies out there are using.  How do you stay connected to remote employees?  What are the limitations of the technology you are using today?  What kinds of advances do you hope are coming down the pipeline, and how would it improve your business model?

1. define the vivid description of where our company will be in 2015,
2. determine the annual BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) and
3. set the annual objectives for 2011.

While we have decided to ‘get back to the basics’ there is nothing simple about our Plan. Redefining and recommitting to our core competencies is going to take a sobering level of focus and determination. I have a hunch that committing to a “To-Don’t” list will prove to be an enormous challenge because the culture of our company has always been about finding a way to say Yes. This not-so-basic “Back to the Basics” philosophy is sure to make 2011 an exciting year at MedMan.

In this video testimonial, Vicky Brown, Administrator at Samaritan Physicians in Moses Lake, WA talks about the many resources available to employees.

MedMan Streamlines Operating Process for Medical Practices Nationwide and Increases Client Satisfaction with Mindjet

MindManager version 9 brings together information for remote employees and clients to foster closer communication and improved client relationships

San Francisco – October 14, 2010 – Mindjet®, the leading provider of software and web-based applications for visually organizing and managing information and ideas, today announced the successful implementation of MindManager™ version 9 with MedMan, a leading medical management services company based in Boise, Idaho. MedMan was looking for a solution to help get closer alignment on internal operations and access to customer information for its 25 remote working employees so they could drive more strategic business plans for their dispersed medical practice client base. MedMan deployed MindManager to help employees create and organize all vital business documents, such as client rosters, HR documents and new hire information, in MindManager so information is easy to access, update and share. Using MindManager, MedMan is able to better serve its clients by providing in-depth and interactive strategy plans that foster idea generation and increase productivity.

MedMan provides administrative and business assistance and consultation for clinics, physician-owned and private medical practices. With numerous clients across multiple states and a workforce that is spread across the country, the business was difficult to keep on track. MedMan needed an easy-to-use and understand platform for tracking key pieces of information related to its clients and business.

“The methodology behind MedMan’s business is helping our clients prioritize needs and establish operational efficiencies to more effectively manage their medical practices,” said Jim Trounson, President of MedMan. “The beauty of MindManager is that we can easily create an actionable business plan with goals, owners and deadlines and work in real-time with the client to show progress and quickly revise the plan when needed. This allows us to the make decisions quicker and faster, making business better for our clients and MedMan.”

MedMan has also taken advantage of the new features in MindManager version 9 including the enhanced integration with Microsoft Outlook, the resource availability feature and the Gantt Project View to understand when clients have available assets and how MedMan can effectively use those to better a client’s business.

“Resource and project management is something that is essential to the survival of any business, whether providing services to clients or providing healthcare to patients,” said Scott Raskin, CEO of Mindjet. “MedMan’s use of MindManager demonstrates the power of visualizing pieces of information that are critical to everyday business function and we are excited to help MedMan provide a unique and necessary service to medical professionals.”

By using MindManager’s extensive visual environment and its innate ability to organize and manage all forms of data and information, MedMan has created elaborate maps that contain all pieces of relevant information for any client, ranging from current business plans, to action items to client rosters. With MindManager, MedMan has been able to strengthen its relationship with existing clients, acquire new ones and provide all clients the service needed to keep business thriving.

MindManager’s visual information maps start with a central theme, and then add branches with ideas, notes, images, tasks, hyperlinks and attachments. Users can easily import from all types of information sources. MindManager maps are used to capture and organize information, and quickly transform thoughts and ideas into fine-tuned visual representations, documents, compelling presentations and winning strategies. MindManager provides a better way to brainstorm, organize facts, plan projects, and communicate results. Users have access to tight integration with Microsoft Outlook and Office to keep the constant stream of information for a project organized in one easy-to-access location, and a visualization and dashboard tool for SharePoint environments with MindManager Explorer for SharePoint. Collaboration tools, real-time map co-editing and web based document storage with Mindjet Catalyst is also available.

For more information visit: www.Mindjet.com

About MedMan

Founded by Jim Trounson in 1977, MedMan’s business model was based on Jim’s experience with outsourcing management companies that were improving the efficiency of hospitals by centralizing and computerizing many of their management functions. MedMan’s goal is to positively affect healthcare delivery to one million patients per year by 2015, based on a proven ability to provide an elite team of professional practice administrators to physician-driven medical clinics.

About Mindjet

Mindjet provides productivity software that helps business professionals visually organize and act upon ideas, information, and resources to drive productivity, team effectiveness, and business innovation. Mindjet products include industry-leading software and online services centered on information mapping, as well as applications that incorporate Mindjet’s innovative visualization technology to improve the usability of leading business applications, including Microsoft® SharePoint® and Salesforce.com.  More than 1.5 million people around the world use Mindjet software to clarify thinking, efficiently analyze information, increase team productivity, and make better-informed decisions.

Used by business professionals in 44 of BusinessWeek’s® 50 “World’s Most Innovative Companies,” Mindjet solutions dramatically boost productivity and team effectiveness. Surveys across several industries show that Mindjet can increase productivity by up to 25 percent by making meetings, common communications, and project management tasks more efficient and effective. Mindjet products are available for free trial or purchase at www.mindjet.com/products/overview, through salesforce.com AppExchange, and through an extensive partner network at www.mindjet.com/community/partners/overview. Mindjet is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Contact Information
Aaron Grabein

Text 100 for Mindjet

415.593.8432

aaron.grabein@text100.com

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In our first session in the morning, Jason put us in groups based on the results of our DiSC personality tests.  I was so excited to be in a group with all the social “I” people!  It was comforting to know there is a whole group of people, who overcommit, like to work in groups, avoid aggressive behaviors, and love to be appreciated.   On a practical note, I can’t wait to get back to the office and arrange to send the DiSC survey to the two new doctors we have signed, which should help me know how to communicate with them.  I also plan to have my manager’s take the survey and use it as a training tool with them.

It was eye opening to see that the MedMan team has many in each category.  This is good for me to know, so that I didn’t assume that great managers need to fit in one or two of the categories.   I have also decided that I am going to have my family take the DiSC survey and use the results to have fun over the holidays.  Now that my kids are grown, and we have added a daughter-in-law, it would be a great exercise to talk about our personality styles and it may help them as they choose their future career paths.

It was just the first session….and already I found that MedMan University is offering a curriculum beneficial to my professional and personal life.   I’d say this is a world class institution!