I attended the orientation/indoctrination program for new board members of the local hospital which started with a meeting with the hospital president, medical staff chief and the chief financial officer. They all quickly reminded me that theirs was an important function within the community filled with one medical crisis after another and one serious management dilemma following another. The board was made up of laypeople, the CEO and several doctors. Afterall, what did the board know? And what did I know!! I was in the real estate business! Implicit in this was; You are in the real estate business and how did you get elected anyway!!

The CFO sketched an outline of the annual budget for the hospital and attempted to impress upon those of us there the magnitude of it all. He explained how the reimbursements came in from the state and federal government for work performed and that these were set amounts. It was explained how sometimes the hospital did charitable work and received nothing nor could it collect. There was of course ample discussion about what it cost to operate a hospital today and the required technology just to keep up….you know, things like cat scan machines, MRI’s, labs, Heart cathertization facilities and more. The physicians were very demanding! I spoke up and said that I could certainly understand the financial statements and that this really sounded a lot like the real estate business! We had those relocation companies reimbursing us too and had fixed prices for some of that work and our agents wanted more technology provided by the company. They stared at me for what seemed to be the rest of the meeting.

The CEO then took us neophyte board members on a brief tour. He immediately complained about the physicians. “You know, the doctors are all independent contractors. They are a constant source of irritation and complain that we need to do more for them in the area of marketing and technology equipment.” He showed us the front reception area and was proud of the security measures taken to prevent any equipment or pharmaceutical salespeople beyond the front desk…unless of course they were approved by management.

He showed us the call center where calls to the hospital came in from citizens looking for information or even a doctor. We were shown the schedule of times that doctors were to be on call to receive such calls and then be available for the emergency room in case they were needed. I again piped up saying that I could certainly relate. All of our agents were independent contractors and we had a call center too and an “up” schedule for the agents. We asked the mortgage and title representatives to stop and sign in as well! Gosh! There were just so many similarities! The laser like look reminded me that I forgot….I was here in a hospital!

The tour with the CEO concluded at the LDRP rooms (labor, delivery, recovery & postpartum). This was one of the hospital’s highlights as they were the first hospital in the area to have such rooms and the community was really receiving them well. They were not only creative but were really appreciated by the doctors and birthing mothers. No more moving from one room to another. We were reminded that these were there because of his creative driving force! I said, “We did something similar in our business with the creation of a Buyers Guide which the public and our agents really appreciated.” He quickly turned and led the group away.

Walking back with the group I heard the CEO talk about how hard it was to work with doctors who were not on the payroll. That their egos were enormous and managing the hospital was no easy task. He reminded his listener that there were a bunch of doctors in the hospital that really had no loyalty to him or the hospital and that many even made more money than he did. He said the Board would have to do something about this in the coming months! He even complained that finding good staff who could work with these “Docs” was not an easy task!

The group was then met by the President of the Medical Staff and we continued on our tour without the CEO. Our first stop was the medical staff area where doctors could search medical records, go online to do research and much more. Kind of an open lounge area with computers and a large board showing admittances so far for the month and the schedule for the doctors covering the referrals. I looked and absorbed it all. “Wow. Just like one of our rooms for the agents!” It was only a thought. I had learned not to make any comparisons.

The medical staff President continued on and while walking complained to the group that the hospital management did not do enough to promote the doctors and their accomplishments. She even told us how much money she brought into the hospital each year doing heart procedures. In fact she did more procedures last year than any other doctor in the hospital and even sent several of her patients to the university hospital in the city for complicated cases. She was one of those who got a lot of business from the hospital because she was one of the better physicians! I could relate to everything she said…but should I tell her? No, better not burst her bubble…After all – this was a hospital!!

We found out how tough it was to be a doctor in this era of health care. Others were trying to take her business away from her. The competition was terrific and of course she had to attend those regular continuing education programs! There were too many meetings and management just did not get it! The federal government interferes too much and outside forces are controlling too much of the business. She did not even have enough office space to support her needs and her staff. She had decided to team up with some other cardiologists to form a group so she could have more control on her time and patient load. This would also give her strength in negotiating with the hospital. I was dazed! Where was I? Was this one of the top doctors in the hospital or one of my top agents in a white coat? I shook my head to clear the fog.

As our tour headed back to the Board Room I stopped for a minute to speak to a nurse on duty and simply asked how he liked working in the hospital. Wrong Question! For the next five minutes I received a litany of how some doctors treat the nurses. How they have to take direction from management and then counter directed by the docs. He went on about how one doctor in particular does not call back when there is a crisis even though they are paged several times. He complained to management but was reminded that the doctors are independent contractors and don’t’ forget that they bring in a lot of patients and that means a lot of money!!! I left quickly finding my way back to the rest of the group.

What had I gotten into? I agreed to serve if elected thinking this was going to be a nice mental diversion! This was a real estate company with a lot of colored jackets! As I caught up to the group the Medical Staff President was excusing herself. She was off to a Professional Affairs Committee meeting to discuss the future fate of several doctors and consider the applications of others. I knew I must be hallucinating. Perhaps I should check in and have an MRI to see if all was in it’s right place!

As the meeting was adjourning we were reminded of the big formal dinner in two weeks at which time the hospital would recognize the contributions of medical staff! Yup, I would put that on the calendar! As I left for my car I wondered what effect HMO’s would have on the real estate industry! Maybe it isn’t quite all the same. I hoped not.