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Dr. Warren McPherson

Billing itself as a "C-Level to C-Level consulting firm," Compass Executives in Nashville boasts a roster of high-level executives offering management consulting and mentoring services in a variety of industries. One of them is healthcare.

"Compass is a consulting group, but really I think of it as kind of a CEO advisory group. We're not interested in writing big, long reports. We're interested in getting things done," explained Warren McPherson, MD, a Murfreesboro neurosurgeon who was chairman of the board for Volunteer State Mutual Insurance Co. With an MBA from Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Business, McPherson tripled the physician insurance association's assets to $1.1 billion during his 11-year VSMIC tenure.

When it comes to physician practice management, McPherson said he and other Compass executives could offer valuable counsel on a host of issues. "Are they efficient? Do they have the right people in the right spots doing the right things to increase the practice? Are they handling their accounts receivables properly? Do they really know what their contracts are? Are they following up on people who don't pay them for whatever reason? There are a bunch of day-to-day operational things that a lot of practices have trouble with," McPherson said.

Compass Executives is a spinoff of Nashville Management Group Advisers, offering experienced professionals to help businesses and industries navigate transitions, executive searches, leadership development and many other private-sector challenges. When NMG Advisers' demand from clients for corporate-suite advice increased, Compass Executives was born in June 2006. McPherson said, because of Nashville's vibrant healthcare industry, Compass is working to strengthen its offerings in the medical arena.

"I make the comment all the time that physicians, for the most part, are wonderful people, but they can't add and subtract. If you want your baby delivered or your appendix taken out, they're great, but they're not very good at the business side of medicine," McPherson said. "Getting professional managers is very important. Groups like the Medical Group Management Association are extraordinarily important because most doctors don't have the time, the training or the inclination to do that."

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