Many medical practices find themselves struggling financially. Whether this is due to declining reimbursements or increased expenses, it can be a serious problem. However, according to several health care consulting groups, there are many ways for a medical practice to boost its revenue.
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1. Optimizing Technology
Under-utilization is a common mistake many medical practices make. In many cases, the practice management system or EHR (Electronic Health Record) could eliminate and reduce manual effort. In turn, this saves your medical practice money. As an example, imagine a medical practice in which nurses keep papers physically filed on tests whose results they are tracking. Instead of easily filtering through outstanding tests, nurses will spend unnecessary hours fingering through endless files because they are under-utilizing their technology. This will cause your medical practice to lose money unnecessarily.
2. Human Resources
Optimizing the technology within your medical practice will definitely bring forth short-term savings; however, the majority of your savings will be found in your HR department. Restructuring your staff in the long-term will prove to be more profitable in the future.
A medical practice’s employees will have one of the largest impacts on its overall revenue. This is why it is important to attract and retain skilled members for your team. Do not rely solely on candidate resumes and interview skills. Incorporate a technical skills assessment to ensure you are selecting a skilled and profitable employee.
3. Unnecessary Upgrades
One of the most common expenses found throughout medical practices comes from upgrades. This is why it is important you examine things routinely. Ask yourself questions. Do I really need to upgrade to the latest software? How will it benefit my company? Will these changes make my medical practice more profitable? Once you answer these questions, then you can make a decision on an upgrade.
Remember, maintaining the status quo in a work environment is not always a recipe for success. This is not to say upgrading technology in your facility is a bad thing; however, you should consider each change intently.
4. Reach Out for Help
Optimizing technology and restructuring staff takes a concentrated effort. In many cases, it will take time. But during this transition, you can ask your vendor or dealer to provide you with an evaluation of your operations. What could you be doing that you are not already doing? Are you utilizing your technology correctly? Are you under-utilizing your staff? These are all questions your vendor can answer during an evaluation.
If you do not have a vendor available, act as your own consultant. Evaluate your practice by doing a walk-through from one of your patient’s perspective. Can you make your facility more patient-friendly? Identify any time-wasting activities. Look at any repetitive steps in every process. Never continue to do something because it is the way you have always done something. In order to boost your revenue, you must make changes.
Boosting the revenue in a medical practice can be a tedious and time-consuming process. However, if you take the proper steps, you will see an increase in your practice’s overall revenue. Remember, revenue optimization requires accepting change.
Continue to do the same thing, and you'll get the same results.
Download Free Guide - Steps to Practice Revenue Optimization