From the Program Chairman
We’ve all heard the saying, take care of your patients and everything else will take care of itself. But in today’s world, simply taking care of patients is no longer adequate. Physicians must also take the leadership role. We must be the CEO.
Why? Because the CEO sets the values and drives the vision for a practice, and physician values necessarily extend beyond business considerations. Physicians must always put the welfare and safety of patients as the paramount concern. This is very different from the typical business approach of focusing exclusively on profits. Physician leadership is essential to a patient-focused practice.
There are some who would have us think that business is too complicated, or too trivial, for physicians to oversee. As an MD-MBA, I can tell you that compared to the medical school curriculum the business curriculum is very manageable. Business education stresses concepts over facts and emphasizes the alignment strategy and purpose. Memorization is rare. The learning environment is interactive and very pleasant. Moreover, business certainly isn’t trivial, because the structure of a business determines the patient experience.
But business does have a specific language. Physicians must understand that language to succeed in the business environment. Business insights, skills, and frameworks can be taught, and physicians must learn them.
Importantly, the Physician CEO™ program is not designed to create managers. It is designed to create CEOs. The Physician CEO needs to understand and oversee what their managers are doing, they should know what activities are profitable and which are not, and they must be able to “talk the talk” of business—especially when it comes to money. Finance, strategy, marketing, positioning, and implementing physician values are critical functions that must be led by a Physician CEO™.
The Physician CEO™ program offers a unique opportunity to gain essential business skills. It is developed by SurgiVision Consultants, Inc. in collaboration with the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Kellogg is consistently rated among the top programs for Executive Education in the world.
Outstanding faculty, CEO focus and a physician-oriented curriculum combine to make the Physician CEO™ program unique. I hope you will engage and look forward to your participation.
– Guy M. Kezirian, MD, MBA, FACS – President, SurgiVision® Consultants, Inc.