Why Some Medical Practices Are Successful

To contact us Click HERE

Defining and discerning why medicalpractices are successful or even wildly successful is more difficultthan often why they fail. While it does not require a masters inbusiness administration, it does require understanding some businessprincipals. Here is a list of reasons some medical practices aredoing so well and being very successful:
It is treated as a business – meaningthat the decisions made about staffing and duties of staff are welldefined and often some staff members are cross trained to cover morethan just one facet of the duties. Office managers know how tomotivate office staff and make them want to be more efficient andproductive.
The rules of HIPAA are laid out andeveryone understands them and knows the consequences of violatingthem. This also means they know the rules and don't try to hidebehind them and hide essential patient information from that patient. I even had one nurse say no to me about discussing a medication withmy wife, even after I directed her to because my wife is a certifiedmedications aid and I wanted to know what she thought. The nursesaid no a second time and I said “lawsuit”. She panicked andwent to get a second opinion and came back very apologetic andexplained the medication to both of us. My wife had her PDA with thedrug information on it. She said no that the medication had sulfa init and I was allergic to sulfa. The nurse was going to give me theprescription anyway and I said I would be in the hospital and maybenot even make it when I could not breath. With that she brought thedoctor back and when he heard that I was severely allergic to sulfadrugs, he said that would not work and issued another prescriptionafter talking with my wife.
There is no substitute for anentrepreneurial spirit. This means not focusing on the problems ofour current healthcare system, but looking for opportunities to workwith what we have and making it work for you. It is not waiting fororganic growth, but being positive and seeking out new opportunitiesto grow and raise revenue.
Have a strategy and a plan that isunderstood and followed by everyone. It does not matter thesimplicity or how complex the strategy and plan is, it is presentedand explained to everyone until it is understood. This means thatthe strategy and plan are open to discussion and if someone seessomething that could be improved, it will be discussed and a changemade if it is beneficial. This often converts people to the systemand creates a willingness for people to work harder.  Visibility is imperative to growing thepractice. This means visible in the community, doing someadvertising, and even volunteering for community events whenpossible. Every community activity is not necessary, but if membersof your practice have community interests, encourage them toparticipate in that interest. Let people know about the practice anddo not hide from this.
A world of potential in reliable datais often available, but unless it is used, it will not help generatea profit. Do not guess what something costs, when payers will make apayment, or which payers are problem payers and use the informationavailable to correct the problem. Practice management programs canproduce volumes of raw data, but unless it is properly programed, thedata means nothing and is wasted information. The same can be saidfor electronic patient data. If something can be added to presentthe data in a more usable form – make it happen.
A patient-centered culture makes adifference and this should be nurtured and practiced to the utmost. While some physician-owners believe this will take care of itself,those that are successful do not make this assumption and striveevery day to cultivate this unified patient-centered culture. Thephysician-owners exemplify this when they hire to find new doctorsand staff that share their goals and work ethic. It is their desirethat every time a patient has contact with the practice, they feelthat the practice has their best interests front and center.
Strong leaders and an outstanding staffis part of a successful practice, but only if they work well togetherand as a unit. Great physicians do not micromanage. Instead theyhire capable staff and see to it that they stay current in theirtraining, surround them with updated technological tools to assistthem in being efficient in their work and handling everyday tasks ofmaking the practice profitable. Strong leaders can step back knowingthat they are spending 95% of their time seeing the patients. Theother 5% is spent monitoring and checking the state of the business,in other words focusing on the big picture and what will beadvantageous for the practice. Successful practices will usephysician assistants and nurse practitioners to expand their servicesand provide excellent care thus earning a high return.
Willingness to create helpful partnerswhen needed is a hallmark of a successful practice. These practicesknow when to seek expert advice and make efficient use of it. Oftenthis means using outside practice management and communicationsservices. These services often can create more efficient andimproved customer care.Great doctors are continually workingto be more efficient, productive, and disciplined with their timeusage. They rely on effective practice management tools to boostefficiency and productivity. When physicians and staff are moreefficient with their time, the improved work flow creates a moreprofessional, calm environment, which benefits staff and patients inmany ways.
As a patient, I admit that I enjoykeeping some of my appointments because I know that I can see theefficiency and work flow progressing smoothly. If the doctor had anunforeseen situation arise, no excuses are being made, and the factsare presented – like a patient needed to be admitted to thehospital or the doctor needed to spend more time with a patient. This is presented and they keep working and when the doctor arrives,you are not treated differently or made to feel they will becurtailing the time spent with you.
Those that I don't enjoy (aside fromnot feeling good to begin with) always have an excuse for everythingand leave you wondering if they know what to do and why. The doctortries to be calm, but if he is operating behind schedule, you get thefeeling that he is trying to short cut the appointment to get to thenext patient.
This is bound to happen in everypractice – a patient fails to keep an appointment and the doctorhas time available. This is one reason I generally try to be earlyto all my appointments and more than once was able to get in early. One doctor took time to thank me and say that I and the next patientwere early and thus they would be able to schedule a patient from thecall list that was local and could get in timely.
So if you are the patient and are ableto discern what is happening, cherish those where you are the centerof their world for the time allotted and realize that even then theycan have interruptions.