APMA News - November/December 2024 - 45

development update
Practice Management Tips
from NextGen Health Care
By Roy Gill, MD, Vice President, Clinical Affairs and Patient Safety, NextGen Healthcare
Sponsored Content: This article is brought to you by our friends at NextGen Healthcare
In today's economic climate, the costs of running
your own medical practice continue to rise.
Expenses for medical supplies, health IT, utilities,
and paying your staff reduce your profitability. But
private practices cannot function without these
costly goods and services. That's why it's so crucial
to maintain a steady revenue stream-balancing
expenses with daily income.
There are many benefits of small-practice health
IT. Check out these tips for maintaining independence
and controlling costs.
Assess Practice Areas
Auditing areas of inefficiency and pain points
across your practice is essential. How effective is
your staffing? Are you ensuring that there is an appropriate
distribution of labor? Consider the roles
held within your current practice. For example, has
your patient load drastically declined over the last
two years, while you retained all your staff? Would
an office manager or clinical lead assist in efficient
and accurate care? Are there hours when your
office is open but does not need to be?
Strategies to implement include:
* Assess miscellaneous practice expenses and fees
* Review administrative roles
* Compare fees for vendors and medical supplies
* Review business insurance and malpractice
liability coverage-consider joining a physician or
provider network
* Examine utility costs and the location of your
practice (Should you rent or own? Are needs for
space and desired features being met or would a
change be financially beneficial?)
* Audit on-hand medication supply and use frequently;
avoid overstocking
* Eliminate paper wherever possible-mailings,
charting, reports, directories, etc.
Consider Outsourcing
Your Billing Department
By using a comprehensive medical billing solution,
you can focus on capturing more revenue, while
dedicating more staff resources to patient care: a
win-win scenario.
Your mission is to
do what you do
best-deliver high
quality care, while
maximizing reimbursement.
Outsourcing your billing department to
a medical billing business that has the automation
and customization you need can help you achieve
your financial goals. A good billing partner enables
your practice to scale operations as needed and
reduce expenses without reducing cashflow.
It's important to consider outsourcing because
staff recruitment and retention can be significant
barriers to timely claims management and payment.
Automate as many practice management
processes as you can, such as eligibility status
checks, claims creation, claims status checks,
statements, and reports. Automation helps ensure
proper reporting and compliance. Running a more
efficient practice can also improve your ability to
attract and retain patients and staff.
Use Patient Engagement Solutions
Consider online scheduling for patients, reducing staff
time required for basic administrative tasks. This way,
they can focus on more pressing, unique needs. More
and more patients have familiarized themselves with
online scheduling. For some, it's a deciding factor
whether they will want to schedule care at your office.
Give them a digital front door. Meet patients where
they are, while simultaneously easing strain on staff.
Think About Cloud-Based Technology
As a small practice, you have many options. But
when managing a small practice of under 10
providers with very limited IT resources, ensure you
are utilizing an efficient and cloud-based electronic
health record system. When practices like this use
cloud-based technology, they can eliminate unnecessary
IT overhead and the burden of wasting
valuable time on in-house technology issues.
Use these key considerations for small practices to
choose the best health IT solutions that fit like a glove.
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