Big picture:
In Australian markets for private allied health services, things are a bit all over the place at the moment:
- Some clinics have closed, while new ones launch, and others aggressively expand.
- Some clinic owners are going all in on the NDIS and future Foundational Supports, while others are reducing their NDIS work and looking to other markets.
- Some clinic owners read every government announcement and paper, then scramble to adapt, while others wait to see what will happen.
Behind the scenes:
Each allied health clinic owner has to decide for themselves how best to respond to rapid changes, including:
- new funding realities associated with pricing limits, more-limited NDIS supports, and (as yet undelivered) Foundational Supports;
- potential increased professional regulation, e.g. flagged in the Scope of Practice Review and NDIS registration taskforce reports;
- changed market dynamics, including frozen price limits and cost of living pressures;
- government disability, health and education system overlaps and gaps;
- shifting consumer preferences; and
- technological advances, like telehealth and AI.
The problem:
“Agility” is a terrible business buzzword. But it’s almost impossible – and dangerous – to try to keep up with every change while running quality practices, helping clients, and managing a team. Attempting to respond to every change:
- spreads limited resources too thinly;
- weakens the focus on core competencies;
- lures us into chopping and changing what we do without enough thought;
- fosters a focus on short term opportunities and quick returns; and
- can lead to organisational chaos, as we attempt to realign operations, processes, staff and culture to ever changing goals.
A solution:
Filter out transient factors, and instead re-commit to strategic constants, including:
- core values;
- client relationships;
- key competencies; and
- brand identity.
Case in point:
When Netflix transitioned from DVD-mailing to streaming, it understood that its key competitive value was derived from its core offering – delivering great content to customers – not from how it did it. This enabled it to make a major change to service delivery while staying true to its mission.
Zoom in:
Liao and Zhu (see link below) recommend a 4-step process for creating a strategically constant business in a time of rapid change. Paraphrased for allied health business owners, our key takeaways are as follows:
- Start at the end: What’s your mission? What broad objectives can you set to achieve it in any market conditions?
- Identify your strategic constants: What factors are relevant today and are likely to continue to be so in the future?:
- Demand: The needs and preferences of your clients, e.g. for quality services, safety, convenience, and reputation.
- Supply: Operational efficiencies, e.g. from workflows, delivery systems, and continuous improvement process in service delivery.
- Match constants to capabilities: Review your strengths. Focus your strategy either on your demand or supply constants (not both to start with or you’ll lose focus and run out of resources).
- Adapt around constants: Use your constants to set the boundaries for your decisions about how best to adapt to changes, including which services to offer, and which technologies to adopt.
Bottom line:
To create both stability (to take advantage of past successes) and agility (needed to evolve to exploit new opportunities related to your mission), clinic owners should review their business strategy and objectives to identify and prioritise strategic constants, while staying flexible about how to adapt to regulatory, market and other changes.
Go deeper:
Liao, J. and Zhu, F. (2024). How to Avoid the Agility Trap, Harvard Business Review, November-December issue.
Allied health NDIS providers: back yourself to try new things, and help more people: a case study
Blood from a stone: What allied health NDIS providers can do to improve their lot
How will allied health NDIS providers survive? Some difficult choices ahead