As discussed on FiercePracticeManagement in the past, the importance of practice efficiency cannot be overstated.

At this year's MGMA conference, practice management experts will share their experience in proven ways to get employees to perform more profitably. Ironically, one of the secrets to running a tighter ship is to instill more fun into the practice environment, as happy employees are more productive employees. Thus, on Tuesday afternoon (session E8), success coach and consultant Maureen Mulvaney, president of MGM & Associates in Phoenix, will provide easy, cutting-edge techniques to "create magical moments in your practice" that will lead to higher profits.

Practice culture is but one piece of the productivity puzzle, however. On Tuesday morning (session D10), Lean and Six Sigma expert Frank Cohen will outline the steps required to analyze and shorten your patient-cycle time so that patients wait less and your practice earns more. The session will cover a case study of a three-physician internal medicine practice that succeeded with these techniques.

But no review of practice operations is complete without taking a close look at the technology that is supposed to help the office run more smoothly but too-often bogs processes down. On Monday morning (session A10), Ron Anderson, director of business development for CHMP Solutions in California, will teach practice leaders how to assess whether they're making the most of their IT investments and work with vendors, physicians, and staff to streamline processes using their electronic health records and practice management systems.

Finally, for an intermediate-level look at how all of these factors come together, check out session B5 on Monday afternoon from consultant Mark Halley. The presentation will discuss process improvement, employee job design, effectively applied technology, performance measurement, and more.