Think like an MBA to make practice profitable. (Business School Tips).

SAN FRANCISCO -- Medicine is not a business. It follows a higher standard, and physicians must choose between high-quality medicine and profits. Right?

Wrong. Physicians can offer high-quality medicine and still make a profit, but they have to think like businesspeople to do so, Dr. Neeraj Kohli said at the annual meeting of the American Urogynecologic Society. He condensed what he learned in 2 years in business school earning his master's degree in business administration into the following top-10 tips for physicians.

1. Develop a strategic edge. Differentiate yourself from your competitors. "Find your niche, and do it fast," said Dr. Kohli of Harvard Medical School, Boston.

2. Create a competitive advantage. One way to do this involves promoting product excellence, a strategy employed by companies like Sony and Nike. Another is operational excellence, such as streamlined operations, touted by companies such as FedEx and Wal-Mart. A third is customer intimacy a strategy followed by companies like Nordstrom. For physicians, developing customer intimacy--understanding the needs of your patients--probably is the most effective strategy to retain patients long term, Dr. Kohli said.

3. Know your customer. Perform a customer analysis, otherwise known as a survey of patients. Even if you don't listen to the results, it pays to ask. Patients like being asked what they need; surveys increase patient satisfaction, studies show Because needs change and patients come and go, survey them regularly.

4. Market yourself. Don't do this necessarily to draw new patients but to attract payers, increase revenue, reduce competition, and establish a brand, Dr. Kohli calculated that for every urogynecologic patient who comes to his office, the practice generates $2,500 on average. Spending $5,000 to reach 5,000 patients with a targeted mailing will be profitable even ...