I have been advising medical and dental practices for over 25 years. It is interesting in this economy, with the so called continued recession, that most of these practices, especially the administrators do not revise or refine the strategic planning for the practice.Harvard Business Review published an excellent article awhile back about why a business should revise their strategic plan along with their marketing strategy especially in this economy.
If your practice or business is operating based on the same strategic plan from years ago, or has no plan at all, I wish you all the luck in the world, I have witnessed practices where revenue has decreased, patients lost, employees unhappy, why? The physician or dentist blames the economy, the recession…one should look inside the belly of the beast…revising your strategic plan, evaluating current demographics, surveying your patients and staff will assist and provide some solutions.
TOP TEN REASONS WHY MEDICAL PRACTICES FAIL TO MAXIMIZE REVENUE:
- Front office systems and procedures are weak
- Bills contain inaccurate and outdated codes
- Fee schedules are not updated
- Physicians downcode their level of services
- Accounts receivables are not worked(collected) consistently
- Financial procedures are weak
- Staff under utilized and ratio to physicians is low
- Physician productivitity not maximized
- Patient service is not top priority
- Practices do not plan, no annual strategic plan
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.
