Making an Impact in Your Medical Practice During Uncertain Times
We live in uncertain times and that uncertainty can affect the way you manage and run your medical practice. From day-to-day family and life issues to the political landscape and upcoming elections, we live in a world of daily pressures that affect us personally and professionally.
There are two sides to your medical practice: the service side, where you provide medical care to your patients, and the business side, where you run your medical practice just like any other business. Both are important and vitally necessary to any medical practice's success.
We will focus on the business side of your medical practice and things you can do to protect and ensure your practice will not only succeed during uncertain times but also, have a lasting impact on the lives of your patients and community.
The pressure and stress caused by uncertain times can result in burnout of medical professionals and staff members. Want to know how to help safeguard yourself and your business against losing a passion for patients? We will go over how to stay focused on that calling and three ways to keep your business focused on success.
Maintain Your Passion and Calling
After years and years of performing a job or running a business, along with the uncertainties of life, one can begin to lose their initial passion for their career. Healthcare professionals have a unique opportunity to impact the lives of their patients every day, from birth to death. This passion to make a difference is what attracts many people into the healthcare world.
Martin Luther King once said, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
Each of us has different motivators and passions in our life. Let’s remember these stimuli daily so that we don’t allow the day-to-day of life to negate our original passion and calling to the healthcare industry.
Know Your Business
As owners of a business, whether that is a restaurant, a supply store, or a medical practice, it is imperative to know key business metrics. These key performance indicators are quantifiable measures used to evaluate the success of an organization that provides analytical information for decision-making. They help focus on what matters most within a business.
Financial Indicators:
1. Income Statement and Balance Sheet
2. Cost/Expense Reports
3. Cash Flow
Revenue Cycle Indicators:
1. Days in Gross Accounts Receivable
2. Percent of Accounts Receivable over 120 Days Old
3. Net Collection Rate
Protect Your Business
Threats to your business have become more complex and more dangerous than ever before, especially within the cyber side of the healthcare industry. These threats are real and should not be overlooked as they pose a concern to medical practices.
Healthcare providers are high-priority targets for cybercriminals as the value of medical information is high. Did you know that your social security number has a value of $4, a compromised bank account has a value of about $25, and a stolen medical record has a value of $1,000? Stolen or compromised health information is big business for cybercriminals. Not only is cybercrime a risk for your business, but there are also concerns about patient privacy and fraud/theft.
Some strategies can be implemented to reduce your risk and help protect your business. These strategies include:
1. Conduct a HIPAA risk analysis
2. Design and implement an effective compliance program
3. Institute financial controls
Proper Perspective and Seek Opportunities
Even during uncertain and difficult times, there are opportunities all around us if we have the proper perspective. Author Andy Andrews states it like this: “In desperate times, much more than anything else, folks need perspective. For perspective brings calm. Calm leads to clear thinking. Clear thinking yields new ideas. And ideas produce the bloom…of an answer.”
Tightening margins and more and more regulations to follow create never-ending stress and challenges within the healthcare industry. But all these changes create opportunities for those with the proper perspective.
Take time to evaluate these opportunities:
1. Identify missed clinical needs of your patients and add that service
2. Embrace your patients’ trend of consumerism and seek to meet those demands
3. Review payer contracts and renegotiate
Our patients and communities need vibrant and growing healthcare providers and healthcare entities, especially during uncertain times. By maintaining your passion, knowing your business, protecting your business, and preserving a proper perspective, you can continue to have the impact we desire on our patients, communities, and personal lives.
Written By: David Caston, MSHA, MBA
LinkedIn: David Caston
