Secrets to Boost Your Practice Profits

Some key steps to make your practice a success are simpler than you think. There are a few easy ways to cut costs and boost your profits.

1. Pay as little rent as possible

Besides payroll, paying rent is the biggest expense in your practice. You don't necessarily need a medical office building for your practice or the most luxurious location. Consider sites such as a residential unit. One physician bought a four-plex and he turned one of the apartments into his office and rented out the other 3 units to other medical practices. By owning your property you don't have to answer to anyone as to how you want to manage your space.

2. Hire only a few employees

It's always good to have a few good core employees. Assign positions to each employee along with having them multitask and share responsibilities. Have them all work as a team and back each other up when needed. Treat these employees well because they set the tone of the office and you want them to be satisfied in their job which makes for a better work environment for everyone.

3. Send ALL claims electronically

This should be the ONLY way to send a claim for processing. Sending claims on a "claim form" is the old way and not efficient. You can receive payment from some insurers within 5 working days, and few take no longer than 2 weeks. This keeps a good flow of payments coming in.

4. Good Service

Make sure you offer good care and service to your patients. This keeps your patients coming back and recommending you to their friends and family. Don't make your patients wait. If they do have to wait, apologize to them. Call the next day and see how they are doing. Also report back to them with any test results promptly. In addition leave room for same day appointments to accommodate patients that need to be seen right away.

5. Cultivate relationships to generate referrals

Making friends and relationships with your medical community is also a good way to generate referrals. Consulting with them will result in more patient referrals. As discussed before, offering good service will eventually get back to the physician that referred them and in turn this will make the physician more comfortable in referring more patients to you.

6. Create a Niche

Consider doing wellness medicine, which widens the scope of potential patients to include everyone. Develop a subspecialty such as geriatrics, thyroid disorders or diabetes. Get into occupational health, offer driver's physicals, and worker's compensation for minor injuries, drug screening or pre-employment physicals. Spend the money to advertise for these services and you will see your practice grow along with your profits.