How strategic planning led to real change in this medical practice

Stephen A. Dickens, JD, MAEd, FACMPE, vice president of medical practice services at SVMIC, recalls a powerful example from his work with physician groups — one that highlights how honest strategic planning can lead to lasting change in even the most difficult situations.

“I remember this one group — it was a relatively small practice with several offices,” Dickens says. Before the planning session, he met with the lead physician, the practice executive, and a few others to understand the group dynamics. Through surveys and interviews, a clear pattern emerged: one location was struggling, and the source of tension appeared to be a particular physician.

Rather than avoid the issue, Dickens brought the findings to the strategic planning meeting. “Let’s attack the elephant in the room,” he says. As the group worked through the feedback — some of it raw and emotional — there was a turning point. “This one doctor finally just kind of got this very pensive, reflective look on their face… and then finally looked up and said, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m the problem.’”

In that moment, everything shifted. The physician, he says, wasn’t a bad clinician — they simply hadn’t realized how they were being perceived. That realization led to leadership training and opened the door for growth. “Everything that comes out of strategic planning doesn’t have to be, ‘We’re going to build a new building,’” Dickens says. “It can be about identifying the simplest of things… a process that doesn’t work, a problem we haven’t addressed...

“It changed that doctor’s life, and it changed that practice for the better,” he says. “And it was a good day.”