If you want a clinic that runs smoother, grows faster, and feels easier to lead, the real breakthroughs aren’t in medicine. They’re in the metrics, mindsets, and leadership moves you make outside the consult room.
In this episode, GP and Practice Owner Dr Andrew Palfreman joins Todd to unpack the unexpected overlap between coaching under-14 AFL kids and running a high-functioning General Practice - and why the “fierce cauldron of self-development” is the best preparation you never knew you needed.
Andrew shares the story behind the now-legendary RPI and why simple, behaviour-driven metrics outperform complex dashboards. He opens up about taking over a long-standing practice earlier than expected, stabilising a team after turbulent ownership changes, and how he rebuilt trust, culture, and momentum from the inside out.
You’ll also hear how Andrew navigated ownership as a new fellow, led calmly through the uncertainty of COVID, built a proactive model of care, and now prepares his clinic for its next major growth phase, both operationally and structurally.
If you’re a GP or Practice Owner looking for grounded, real-world lessons from someone who’s lived every part of the journey - clinical, managerial, cultural, financial - this conversation is a goldmine.
You’ll walk away with insights you can apply immediately, whether you’re stabilising, growing, or scaling your clinic for the future.
In this episode of the Scale My Clinic Podcast, you’ll learn:
- Why coaching-style thinking makes you a stronger Practice Owner (00:22)
- How to create lead/lag indicators that drive real behaviour change, keep your team aligned, and remove ambiguity without overwhelming people with dashboards (01:26)
- The first high-impact decisions new owners must make to stabilise the team, protect the business, and set the clinic up for long-term growth (10:21)
- What strong crisis leadership really requires and how to guide your team with confidence in uncertain moments (23:04)
- How planned care, health assessments, and rebooking systems create sustainable scale (28:49)
- How strategic room planning, telehealth flow, and property decisions that enable growth (36:02)
ABOUT DR ANDREW PALFREMAN
Dr Palfreman graduated from the ANU Medical School in 2009 and completed GP specialty training to become a Fellow of the RACGP in 2014. He worked previously as a Registrar at Winnungah Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service and Interchange General Practice. While Clinical Director at IGP, he was fortunate to help at Watson in 2015 prior to the passing of Dr Phillip Toua (well known to longstanding Watson and Giralang patients). In 2017, Dr Palfreman returned permanently as Clinical Director and bought the practice in November 2018. In 2021, he also began work at a GP outreach clinic with Directions Health Service.
Originally from Melbourne, he is an alumnus of the University of Melbourne and RMIT and worked in 1997 at Monash University. He moved to Canberra in 2001 and spent two years in Solomon Islands prior to studying medicine. In October 2018 he returned briefly to the Pacific as a locum doctor in Port Vila, Vanuatu. He has three children, a Staffy called Steve, and lives locally.
While interested in general medicine, he has specific interests in chronic disease and pain management, men’s health and Indigenous health. In November 2024, he received a Medicare Champion award from the Australian Government:
Announcing Australia's Medicare champions | Health Portfolio Ministers | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
WHERE TO FIND DR ANDREW PALFREMAN
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