Investing for Doctors: 5 Smart Practice-Changing Strategies

As a practice owner, you’ve probably been told to “make your money work for you.” But let’s be honest: between long clinic hours, managing staff, payer demands, and keeping patients happy, finding time to think about your practice’s financial future isn’t easy. The reality? Ignoring how you invest your resources means leaving revenue, efficiency, and growth on the table.

The good news: you don’t need to become a financial expert to strengthen your practice. By making a few strategic investments in key areas, you can reduce stress, streamline operations, and set your clinic up for long-term success.

Here are five best investments for doctors and practice owners that are worth prioritizing.

1. Billing Services That Boost Cash Flow

Billing errors, denials, and delayed payments are silent killers of profitability. Even the most skilled staff can struggle to keep up with payer rules and coding changes. That’s where expert billing services come in.

Why this matters:

• Industry studies show up to 20% of claims are initially denied or rejected, often due to coding errors or missing information.
• Staff often don’t have the time or expertise to chase every unpaid claim.
• Cash flow disruptions create stress and make it harder to budget for payroll, rent, or reinvestment.

Imagine if 10% of your claims currently go uncollected. For a practice billing $1 million annually, that’s $100,000 left on the table. By partnering with a professional medical billing service that specializes in denial management, claim scrubbing, and payer follow-ups, you can turn that lost revenue into reliable income.

Think of billing services as the “financial circulatory system” of your practice. When it runs smoothly, everything else thrives.

2. Virtual Assistants to Lighten the Load

Your staff juggles phones, insurance checks, appointment scheduling, and front-desk responsibilities. It’s no surprise patients sometimes feel rushed or staff burn out quickly. A virtual assistant (VA) can transform this pressure point into an efficiency booster.

Why this matters:

• VAs can handle routine but time-consuming tasks like scheduling, eligibility checks, prescription refills, and patient reminders.
• Patients benefit from faster responses and better communication.
• Your in-house team has more time for patient-facing tasks, improving satisfaction and morale.

Start by outsourcing one area, say, appointment reminders. When those calls or texts are handled consistently by a VA, you reduce no-shows and open up staff time. Over time, expand their responsibilities to insurance verification or patient portal management.

Imagine your front desk free from ringing phones, smiling as they greet patients instead of multitasking. That’s the power of a VA.

3. A Top-Notch Marketing Service

Many practices believe “if we provide great care, patients will come.” While word of mouth is important, relying on it alone is risky. Today’s patients start their healthcare search online, comparing reviews, services, and convenience before ever calling your office. Without an intentional marketing strategy, your practice may never even make their shortlist.

Why this matters:

• 77% of patients research providers online before booking an appointment.
• Practices with strong online reputations and visibility consistently outperform competitors.
• Marketing is also about retaining and reactivating existing patients as much as gaining new ones.

A healthcare-specific marketing service can help you appear at the top of Google searches, manage your online reputation, and launch campaigns to bring back inactive patients. For example, a simple email reactivation campaign to patients who haven’t visited in a year can fill unused appointment slots with little cost.

Think of marketing like your practice’s “digital waiting room.” If it’s inviting, informative, and easy to find, patients will want to step inside.

4. Done-for-You Credentialing

Credentialing is one of the least glamorous but most essential parts of running a practice. Without it, you can’t bill payers or get reimbursed. But the process is notoriously slow, error-prone, and frustrating when handled in-house.

Why this matters:

• A single missed step can delay credentialing for months, leaving revenue stuck in limbo.
• Payers often require constant follow-up which is something most staff simply don’t have time for.
• Faster credentialing means providers can start seeing patients (and generating revenue) sooner.

Outsourcing credentialing is one of the best investments for doctors running a practice because it ensures every form, contract, and payer requirement is handled correctly and on time. Think of it as hiring an “air traffic controller” who makes sure your practice gets cleared for takeoff without delays.

If you’ve ever had to tell a new provider, “Sorry, you can’t bill yet,” you know the stress credentialing hiccups create. Done-for-you credentialing prevents that bottleneck and gets money flowing faster.

If your EHR vendor doesn’t provide a credentialing service, here are a few tips and tricks when credentialing or re-credentialing.

5. MIPS Compliance Training

If your practice bills Medicare, you can’t ignore MIPS (Merit-based Incentive Payment System). Done wrong, it can cost you up to 9% in penalties. Done right, it can actually increase your reimbursements. The challenge is staying up-to-date and training staff to capture quality data accurately.

Why this matters:

• Noncompliance is expensive, and penalties eat directly into your bottom line.
• Practices that perform well on MIPS can earn positive payment adjustments.
• Staff often don’t realize that small documentation errors can mean big financial consequences.

MIPS compliance training equips your team to document accurately, avoid penalties, and maximize incentives. Think of it as turning a regulatory burden into a potential revenue stream.

Instead of dreading MIPS reporting season, imagine your team approaching it with confidence knowing they’re not just avoiding penalties, but setting the practice up for bonuses.

Investing in Your Practice: The Best Investments for Doctors

While owning or managing a practice is about delivering excellent care, let’s not forget that to deliver continuous quality care, we must run a financially healthy business that can grow with your patients. By investing in billing services, virtual assistants, marketing, credentialing, and MIPS training, you create efficiencies, reduce stress, and build a foundation for sustainable growth.

Think of it as preventive care for your practice’s financial health. Small, consistent investments today lead to a stronger, more profitable tomorrow for you, your staff, and your patients.