← The Lindsey Anderson Show
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- [00:03]
Lindsay Anderson
Are you ready for next level growth in your business? Welcome to the Lindsay Anderson show where we pull back the curtain on the exact strategies, tools and mindsets that build million dollar empires. If you're hungry for more time, more freedom and a whole lot more impact, you've come to the right place. Buckle up because we're about to ignite your business journey. Now here's Lindsay.
- [00:33]
Hey everybody. Welcome to this episode of the Lindsay Anderson Show. I am so excited for today's guest, Mr. Peter Wishney. Now, Dr. Peter Wishney is a powerhouse in the healthcare and leadership world. With over 34 years of experience as a practicing podiatrist, Now a full time coach for healthcare practitioners, Dr. Wishney brings unparalleled expertise and insight to help professionals navigate the complexities of running successful practices while maintaining a healthy work life balance. A certified leadership coach, accomplished keynote speaker, and an author of two highly regarded business books, Dr. Wishney is on a mission to empower the next generation of healthcare leaders. His transformative coaching has already inspired countless practitioners to elevate their careers and create thriving practices. So excited to welcome Dr. Peter Wishney to the show. Welcome to the show.
- [01:29]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Thank you, Lindsay. It's great to be here and great to be with you on the show.
- [01:34]
Lindsay Anderson
Yeah. So how did you get into coaching other healthcare providers?
- [01:39]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Yeah, it's a great question. 34 years ago, I opened my own practice at 29 years old. Never worked for anyone in my life. It was a struggle at first. I, I didn't have any mentors or anyone to help me with running my practice. I owed about $300,000 between student loans, the practice loan and a credit line. I was losing about $8,000 a month after three months.
- [02:02]
Lindsay Anderson
And you're a doctor. This isn't supposed to be happening, right?
- [02:06]
Dr. Peter Wishney
It's. Yeah, but they don't teach us how to run a business in medical school and no one knows how to do that. Doctors love to be doctors, but they want autonomy. They want to be their own boss, but they don't know how to do that. And which is what happened to me over time. But I took some business classes, I'm my own coach and then I learned how to do this and then I just fell in love with actually running the practice equally as like my passion for taking care of patients so that both passions were about equal. I mean the energy levels. And I then also started coaching other doctors because they had the same problems and I want to help them. So that's, that was my. So I've been doing this for 13 years.
- [02:52]
Lindsay Anderson
Was there, like a pivotal moment for you where you're like, I am now going to not be a podiatrist anymore, and I'm going to give into this other passion of mine, which is actually helping other healthcare providers.
- [03:05]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Yeah. So I grew my practice and sold my practice of private equity a couple of years ago. I had five other doctors working for me, and not one of them wanted to spend the money and put in all the time energy that I do in my practice. So I sold it to private equity because this is my new passion. This is something I want to do full time. And I started that this year, January 1st of this present year. Sold 2024. And that's how I exited the practice. But I teach doctors from day one that they need to plan for the exit, even at a very early stage.
- [03:43]
Lindsay Anderson
Can you expand on that a little bit? How does one plan for the exit at a. Even if it's my. My second day in business there.
- [03:49]
Dr. Peter Wishney
So you don't have that mentality because you just want to like all the doctors. And it could be accountants or lawyers, professional practices. They're working in the business. It's like the chef who also owns a restaurant. They're probably spending more time learning how to cook versus running the show. So how do you do? This is very simple. From day one, you put systems in place. You put system. Everything is written down, just like McDonald's. And that's who started all the franchising. So how the front desk won, how they answer the top 15, 20 questions that patients will ask you, call you. Every little detail needs to be written. And I have the luxury between the end of my residency and the start of my practice to implement these systems, to write everything down. So now you have a cookbook, you have a manual that you could pass on to someone else. Right. And that actually, believe it or not, private equity loves that increases the value of your business, having the systems in place. And that's the first thing you would do.
- [04:55]
Lindsay Anderson
Okay, systems.
- [04:56]
Dr. Peter Wishney
And the next thing is, if that's what you're asking me, the next thing.
- [04:59]
Lindsay Anderson
Yeah. I want to know how to plan for the exit. So first of all, I got to get systems, because they're basically buying that intellectual property from you, this cookbook from you on how to run the business. Otherwise, it's all in your head and worth nothing.
- [05:09]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Exactly correct.
- [05:10]
Lindsay Anderson
Okay.
- [05:11]
Dr. Peter Wishney
And what are other private equity companies or doctors who are going to buy your practice want? They're going to look at your numbers.
- [05:18]
Lindsay Anderson
Yep.
- [05:18]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Keep all your financial records clean and easy to to present to someone else key performance indicators.
- [05:26]
Lindsay Anderson
Okay, tell us about that.
- [05:28]
Dr. Peter Wishney
So doctors are busy in their practice and they don't take the time to look at their numbers. And I always say that they end up having more month than money. What that means is that it's the 28th of the month and there's only two or three more days left in the month and they don't have enough money to pay all the bills and they don't even know how much money they brought in until the 27th or 28th of the month. So the first thing you do is look at your numbers daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly. And which numbers? Every team member. And that's this. The, the great thing about this is that doctors are not the ones to run the numbers. The CEO of a company gets the numbers given 20 to him or her, right? And then it gets analyzed by the team. And CEO just looks at it and then has a meeting and says, yeah, I agree with this, let's do this, let's do that. Every team member, every staff person has a statistic such as the front desk person will have. What do they do? They make sure the appointment book is full with productive patients. They actually make sure patients keep the appointments and collect monies at the time of service. All three things are measurable, can be put on a graph, and then can be weekly presented to the doctor owner. And that staff person will say, okay, let me tell you what happened this week because you're there treating a patient. I'm up here, I know what's going on here. I'm going to tell you why patients didn't show what they were saying on the phone. I'm going to tell you why patients didn't pay their co pay deductible. But this is my action plan for this week to get those numbers back up. So rethink. We have to do everything. That's the real problem of anyone who owns the business. I call that leadership. We are all leaders and leaders need to know how to delegate with that delegation. Guess what happens? You do everything yourself or nothing gets done because you don't have the time. And when you get around to it, it's still not being done the way you want it done because you just doing it so quickly. And learning how to lead is going to get you more time in the end.
- [07:42]
Lindsay Anderson
I like that learning. I want to say that again. Learning how to lead is going to get you more time in the end because you really can't expand a business without a team. And then who are they following if it's not you and if you're not a great leader, then things aren't going to go very well. Exactly what I find really interesting. I know you've been counseling, helping people in the medical field like what you're talking about here, plan for the exit, having those systems, learning how to be a good leader. Can you expand like that? That is any business. Have you experienced that there's a nuance for health care providers or would you agree with that statement?
- [08:19]
Dr. Peter Wishney
I agree that statement. I, my fiance, I go, we go to restaurants, go out to dinner and she sees how I'm assessing all the systems in place. Like I was just not an eye doctor today. And the doctor is amazing. The staff is amazing. They have two people, but they only have two people. And my appointment was 8 o'clock but the staff didn't come until 9 and I guess that's their arrangement. So now I didn't get seen until about 8:30 because the doctor is not only seeing the patient that's in front of me, helping that patient with the contact lenses and checking the patient out, checking the patient in for that first hour, that's. To me it looked exhausting because what, what are our strengths? What do we get paid for? We get paid to be a doctor. And what is your dollars per hour? This is a important statistic. Dollars per hour. What are we worth now? Why are we providing certain care when it's less than what we are worth? So checking a patient in and, and checking them out, that's not. What are we getting paid to do? So we need to train someone and, and get them better. Like every business. You're talking about business. Every business has this problem and it's been the problem from the turn of the century. We think it's just since COVID but it's since it's been ever since I've been practicing since 1989, ever finding really good people. The only difference between now post Covid than before is that for a doctor's office we're getting our good staff poached by hospitals. Offer them more money and more benefits but then they working like slaves and so they don't have oh, Mary at the front desk needs the day off to take grandpa to the doctor. And it's a small mom and pop doctor's office. Hey, go ahead, take care of your grandpa and come back. You can never have that happen in a big institution, restaurants. You remember post Covid how long you waited to get a table or still waiting because you can't find a Server anymore. Anybody wants to do these great jobs and then what happens? They increases, they increase their salary. Everybody's salary goes up. But I'm not thinking the service and the return on the investment has improved just to keep them and that then who suffers? The client, the customer, the patron? We all suffer the end because we have to pay for the increased costs of service.
- [10:45]
Lindsay Anderson
That's right. Now I have a quick question for you. Back on the systems piece. Would you consider yourself, Peter, more of a. Would. Are you a systems person just generally, or are you more of this like, I have a new idea all the time kind of person. And like systems are like, I'm resistant. What kind of person are you? Are you somewhere in the middle?
- [11:04]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Oh, I love this question. Okay, so we talk about systems and having everything written down, but systems continually change. And yeah, so I'm also a creator and since the beginning I have what's called my Raymaker day. So every Wednesday it took off to work on the business not being, just not being a doctor. And that's the day I created. That's the day I put in the marketing plan and gave it to the marketing person. Or we had meetings together and created new ideas to help grow the practice that then might means in turn you have to change the systems. And that's okay. So systems are not written in stone. Oh, I got my systems. It's done. Three years later. What got you there, right? Is not going to get you where you want to go. So I love systems, but as long as we know they're flexible and allows you, allows room for creation. And it's the same idea with I'm a planner. Okay, this is what I'm going to work on this month, this quarter. And this is how I'm going to do it. And this is my, these are my action steps. I don't think most people understand this. When you are planning and people think you're rigid, everything is at 9 o'clock, I'm going to do this. At 10 o'clock, I'm going to do that. I'm going to do that whole pomodoro like 25 minutes on work like that. But when you are planning, you are actually allowing for flexibility because if something happens, one of your family members needs you. Okay, you have this in your plan. You can move things around so you have to be flexible with the plan. But running your business by the seat of your pants just gives you lack of clarity and gives you anxiety. That's where anxiety is from, lack of clarity and having so much stuff in your head and it's not written down, get it out of your head, put it down and you'll have more clarity and less anxiety and you allow for the flexibility if there are emergencies and things like that.
- [12:58]
Lindsay Anderson
I love that. Couldn't agree more. Tell me about some common obstacles of these doctor business owners that you encounter and some of the ways that you can work around them.
- [13:07]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Like I said, the big one is finding good staff. So I help them with hiring in the sense of what to look for, questions to ask, the whole hiring process, help them with how to fire someone as well. But the big one when it comes to team is training. No one puts in training systems and you need a training system. And if you're just starting out, you're going to need to train the first two people in your office, find two group people, train them who will train the next two people, who will then train the next two people. So you no longer have to do that, but you have to put the time in to do that. So that's in. I help them with that aspect, help them with putting in systems in place and I help them actually find ways to 10x the growth and that is by learning how to delegate. Becoming better leaders, as I said before, gives you more time for you and your family. I help them achieve their goals. It could be customer service issues, patient issues, financial. That's a key thing. And to answer your question in a little more detail, there's three areas I really focus on. Systems and KPIs Leadership and mindset is what's in here not just for doctors, for everyone that we have this great idea and we get excited and then go that work for me. Am I able to do that? How am I going to get that? There's so many questions to get into our brain and we then just put it off to the side. So I help them with that, help them achieve their goals by getting them to become more positive and forward thinking.
- [14:41]
Lindsay Anderson
What's your favorite mindset technique there?
- [14:45]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Oh, it starts off with the first thing you do in the morning. I wake up early where it's quiet and no one's there, no one's up, it's dark. And I have affirmations. There's a. I have my own affirmations called from in an app, typed in the app called Think up app. And I put into it, I put my headphones on it. So I record my affirmations and into this app and I apply music to that and I just listen to it and I write down, I rewrite my Goals, the top three things I want to achieve this quarter and rewrite it morning and night. And then I just review how I'm going to accomplish it. And there's one affirmation that if I do every day, that helps me, especially when I was in the office, whatever comes my way, I will be able to handle.
- [15:34]
Lindsay Anderson
And you just say that over and over, whatever comes my way I will be able to handle.
- [15:38]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Exactly. Because everybody who owns the business and deals with people will tell you this. They're working in the business, they're doing their thing and all of a sudden someone says, hey doc, we have a problem. Okay, this thing happened. So this patient says this. So this patient, whatever happens, don't worry about it. Whatever obstacles put in front of me, I'm going to be able to handle it. And one little technique for that, and most people can use this in any business. When your team comes to you and says, hey, we have a problem, I tell them, you're not allowed to come to me with a problem unless you come to me with a solution to that problem. There's several reasons for that. When your team member solves the problem and you agree with that solution, you now empower them to take hold of their position and making decisions and becoming a leader in their own area where they don't keep on bothering you all the time. Because now I go, I trust you. You believe in our vision and our mission, you come up with great solutions, just go for it. You don't always have to disturb me for little things. If you have a fire that's starting, I think I should be told.
- [16:46]
Lindsay Anderson
Yeah, you talk a lot about leadership. You talk a lot about team building, finding the right people and training. You mentioned as obstacles that many doctors don't really work on telling. Is there any other obstacles in there when it comes to like leadership and management style that you run into?
- [17:05]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Doctors who handle take insurances, they have lots of obstacles because you're dealing with what I call everyday nonsense. For example, if the patient needs an MRI or some procedure, it has to be pre certed. In a lot of insurance companies you could put in a written pre certificate and they'll probably deny it because they want you, the doctor to get on the phone with the doctor of the insurance company. And once I get on the phone, hey doc, you on the phone? Yeah. And they say, yeah, I'm on the phone too. Okay, it's approved. Basically they really don't care because probably nine out of 10 doctors don't get on the phone because they're Too busy. The MRI is no longer approved, and the patient can't get an mri. But, you know, if you get on the phone, they approve it. So it's just a game. It's just a money game. So that's an obstacle that just slows everything down. Overhead. How do you keep your overhead low and increase your profitability? But that's just looking at your numbers every day. Getting a P and L, believe it or not, doctors don't look at their P and LS regularly. And it should be looked at every single month, not quarter every single month.
- [18:11]
Lindsay Anderson
Got to know those numbers. That's the game of business right there. How do you know what the score is if you're not looking at that?
- [18:15]
Dr. Peter Wishney
That is a great analogy, and that's the analogy I use. It's absolutely true.
- [18:20]
Lindsay Anderson
I love that. So what do you see as the future? The future of building businesses, the future of what you're doing here.
- [18:27]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Okay. In any business. Small business in the United States is just. It's booming. I love running my practice for 34 years. I love creating. Look at your practice as you're creating something. You're making something happen. And take the time, like every single day to say what great things occurred today. And because you're amazed at this time of the year, I tell everybody, open up all your planners, open up your phone. Look at all the pictures from 2024, and look at all the great things that happened this year. Because most people, what they do is, oh, it's 2025, the ball drops. Happy New Year. And everybody said, oh, I hope this year is a better year. Who said 2024 was a bad year? You just want it. Every year should be hopeful, hopefully better. But look at your phone. Look at all the great things that happen in your life. Because it's so easy to find the negative things, the bad things. Because it's just the way our brain works to protect ourselves from future harm. So it's easy to see the bad things. But look at all the great things. And running a business, it's going to constantly change. I don't care if it's. You're a doctor, if you run, own a restaurant, no matter what business you own, things will constantly change. And that's what keeps us on our toes. That's what allows us to provide better service to our customers. Because this is what we do. We are there to help other people. And the more you help people, you help. This is the key. The more people you help, the more you will receive in return. So don't Focus on yourself, except for when it comes to your health and your family's health, of course, but I'm talking about in the business. Focus on helping other people. Your team and your patients, your clients, your customers. Help them get what they need and then you'll definitely get what you need. Probably a lot more than you need.
- [20:23]
Lindsay Anderson
Tell me. You've done a lot of things. You've been a podiatrist, you sold your practice, now you're consulting others. What is one thing after these 34 years that you wish you would have known before you got started? Can you boil it down to one thing?
- [20:37]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Down to one thing. I wish I had business training in medical school to get me started or at least in my residency because you probably forget it by then. Just basically understanding. Oh, and this is a simple answer. It's very simple answer. How to basically interact with all kinds of people that you come across in your practice. Maybe mainly your team, your staff. Okay. Because I couldn't keep an employee. Saved my life for the first couple of years because I'm from New York and we're like, okay, how come you're not working? How come you're not doing? Supposed to be doing and taking my own work ethic and putting it on them and realizing that's not how you lead. And you lead by actually understanding the people, getting to know them better and showing your team how much you care. And then they'll turn around and if you have a good person, they'll be very loyal to you. So I wish I knew that.
- [21:34]
Lindsay Anderson
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom on the show, allowing us to talk to you today. Before I let you go, I'm going to turn the time over to you. Let everybody know how to find you and anything else you want them to know.
- [21:46]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Great, thank you. You can reach me at Dr. Dr. Wishney gmail.com I'm on Instagram as Coach Underscore Peter Wishney. If you email me, I will send you the 25 ways to get $25,000 that your practice is leaking. So I'll send you that PDF.
- [22:06]
Lindsay Anderson
Thank you so much for coming on the show today, Dr. Wishney. Appreciate you.
- [22:10]
Dr. Peter Wishney
Thank you.
- [22:12]
Lindsay Anderson
There you have it folks. Another awesome episode of the Lindsay Anderson show. Now if you are looking for my simple social media system that will allow you to attract high quality clients online, make sure that you do not miss my upcoming workshop. All you need to do is head over to Lindsay a.com workshop and during this workshop I'll share with you my simple four step system. For attracting and converting high quality clients online for your service based business. That is Lindsay A.com workshop. Thank you to everyone for joining me today. Another big thank you to Dr. Wishney for sharing his insights today. Thank you for joining me and cheers to you and your success.
- [22:59]
That's a wrap for today's episode of the Lindsay Anderson Show. If you loved this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share how you're leveling up your business. Want more? Connect with Lindsay Anderson and get the tools you need to crush your goals@lindsaya.com until next time, keep pushing, keep growing and turn those business dreams into reality.