"I had all the training I needed to see and treat patients, but as far as running a practice, I didn't have experience or training. I didn't feel comfortable wearing the CEO hat of my practice.

"I was working five days a week, some Saturdays, and taking work home with me. It was burdensome, and it affected the quality of my life. I sometimes had a sour attitude because of the total time it took to get things done. Before we were finished the first year consulting with ExecTech, I had much more control over the number of hours I worked per week. I was able to do the things I needed to do, but in much less time.

"As an organization, we lacked internal structure. For example, we didn't have a clear policy manual in place and we weren't totally OSHA compliant. Soon after we started with ExecTech, our consultant helped us compile a clear Policy Manual. He cracked the whip to get us completely OSHA compliant, and he made sure we were protected.

"I learned from ExecTech many of the qualities, characteristics, traits, and skills needed for effectively communicating with staff. I learned how to reward staff when they do positive things, and to then discipline staff when this is necessary. Staff morale improved! And on the management side, I learned to become a better team leader.

"ExecTech consulting also got me to think about running a business from a financial standpoint. What's our cash flow, debt load, and our assets like? What are we paying our employees? Is it at market, below market, above market? We received a lot of good advice on how to bonus staff, as well.

"I learned about typical corporate structure, and I was able to see how different parts of the machine interact with one another.

"I enjoy how to be an effective leader and how to make employees feel good about themselves. It is important to get staff to be as productive as they can be. I also learned to minimize expenses by being more cognizant of the cash flow.

"I learned to be creative on how to treat my patient database and to make them feel good about the experience they've had here. ExecTech forced me to look at our competitors to see how they ran their practices. We routinely get feedback from our patients so we can bowl them over with excellent customer service. This definitely leads to strong word-of-mouth referrals.

"I like that ExecTech has a lot of experience with medical practices. I was able to call other doctors (clients) on the telephone who had worked with ExecTech and get an impartial opinion as to how they felt the program worked for them and what were their strengths and weaknesses. It was a fairly straightforward decision to go with ExecTech once we talked with past or current clients.

"ExecTech is like having a personal coach or confidant you can tap on the shoulder and ask for advice pretty much any time. You can feel free to ask stupid questions or pose very challenging questions to the consultant.

"As physicians, we spend 13 years of training after High School. Not even one percent of any of those years is devoted to the business side and the management side of running your own practice. For me, ExecTech is a well-spent investment."

Michael Furlong, M.D.