Keep the Objective, Change the Strategy: A Living Approach to Planning with Mark Vorherr

On this episode of the MGMA Insights Podcast, host and senior editor Daniel Williams sits down with Mark Vorherr, CEO of Mayfield Brain & Spine, to explore a more adaptable approach to strategic planning. Vorher explains why organizations should establish enduring objectives before selecting strategies, how recurring updates create meaningful accountability and why even promising new ideas must connect directly to an organizational goal.

The conversation also explores Vorherr’s path from spreadsheets and physician compensation to healthcare leadership, as well as the values that have helped Mayfield Brain & Spine remain an independent, physician-owned practice. Away from the executive office, Vorherr shares the unusual hobby that has filled his closet with approximately 400 decks of playing cards and demonstrates the card-handling technique known as a “spring.”

Episode takeaways

• Traditional strategic plans can become static documents that make organizations feel productive without necessarily helping them achieve meaningful results.
• A living plan begins with qualitative objectives that describe what the organization wants to accomplish. The specific strategies used to reach those objectives should be allowed to evolve.
• Each objective at Mayfield Brain & Spine must have at least three quantitative measures that show whether the organization is making progress.
• Strategies sit beneath those measures. If a strategy stops working, leaders can replace it without abandoning the larger objective.
• New technologies and ideas, including artificial intelligence, should answer a practical question: “What does it tuck up into?” If an initiative does not support an existing objective or measure, the organization may need to set it aside.
• Monthly and quarterly updates help build a culture of self-accountability, even when the update is simply that no meaningful progress occurred during that period.
• Effective progress reports should be concise enough for others to absorb quickly. Vorher follows advice from one of Mayfield’s administrative nurses: “Be brief, be bright and be gone.”
• Outside work, Vorher collects rare playing cards and practices cardistry and sleight of hand, an interest that began when his son developed a childhood fascination with magic.

Resources

• Mayfield Brain & Spine
• Connect with Mark Vorherr on LinkedIn
• MGMA Business Strategy Resources
• Register for Spring conferences: MGMA Financial Conference | MGMA Private Practice Conference | MGMA Operations Conference
• MGMA Podcast Network

MGMA Members: Would like to appear on an episode? Email us at dwilliams@mgma.com. If you have a question about your practice that you would like us to answer, send an email to advisor@mgma.com. Don't forget to subscribe to our network wherever you get your podcasts!

This episode is sponsored by Veradigm Revenue Cycle Services.

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