8 ways to promote financial sustainability in your medical practice
Financial sustainability is all about being able to navigate economic uncertainties and grow one’s business over time. In healthcare, these uncertainties could include medical claim denials, healthcare staffing shortages, economic recessions, competition from healthcare disruptors, surprise cybersecurity attacks like the one that happened to Change Healthcare in February, and so much more.
A financially sustainable medical practice is one that can recover from these and other setbacks with minimal effort, continuously generate revenue, and increase profits. This type of resiliency takes time, and it’s not a ‘one and done’ deal. Financial sustainability is an ongoing process of daily mindful efforts both large and small that promote long-term success.
Here are eight ways to get started.
1. Expand your patient base. Financial sustainability requires a steady demand for your healthcare services. Looking beyond your current patient base safeguards you against unforeseen decreases in patient volumes. Consider offering new, complementary medical services or targeting additional patient demographics. Another idea is to contract with additional payers. Weigh the pros and cons and then decide.
2. Increase telehealth appointment slots. Telehealth plays an important role in financial sustainability because it helps attract and retain patients who might otherwise delay healthcare, avoid care altogether, or seek care elsewhere. We’re talking about patients with busy work schedules, family obligations, or transportation barriers that make in-person appointments difficult. Again, it’s about making sure your schedule is always full and with as few missed appointments and no-shows possible. As you expand the number of available telehealth appointments, be sure to improve the patient telehealth experience as well. Note that adding more virtual slots may also allow you to cut expenses (e.g., if you designate certain days or blocks of time when nobody is in the physical office)—a step that, over time, can also promote financial sustainability.
3. Strengthen your medical practice’s online presence. While it may be tempting to cut back on your marketing budget to save money, doing that can definitely come back to haunt you when healthcare competition increases. One of the most important steps you can take to promote long-term financial success is to invest in optimizing your medical practice website for search engines. The goal? Help patients can find your medical practice more easily. While you’re at it, be sure to encourage current patients to post reviews online. Then respond to those online reviews promptly.
Another important step when marketing yourself is to create and maintain a presence on social media where you can share educational content through videos and blog posts. Remember: Building your healthcare brand in as many ways as possible is an important part of promoting financial sustainability. This is especially true during economic downturns because it helps you develop loyal and engaged customers (i.e., patients).
4. Embrace the right revenue cycle management technology in your medical practice. With the right electronic health record and practice management system, you’ll gain administrative efficiencies that, in turn, allow you to focus on providing high-quality patient care. This healthcare technology should provide you with complete integration, allowing you to transition quickly and accurately from scheduling to encounter to billing. It should also provide you with comprehensive revenue cycle management reporting and data analytics capabilities to help you make informed business decisions.
5. Give patients the ultimate healthcare experience. Let’s face it. Patients are the reason you do what you do, and without them, you would not have a business. When you provide a stellar patient experience, you not only convey your appreciation; you also increase the likelihood they will return and encourage others to make appointments with your medical practice as well. Providing the ultimate experience includes things like giving patients the ability to self-schedule and pay bills online, communicate with providers through secure messaging, and access patient-centered resources through a patient portal. However, it also includes deliberate efforts to increase patient engagement (e.g., sending appointment reminders or reaching out to patients who need preventive care and treatment for chronic conditions) as well as cultural sensitivity, respectful communication, and more.
6. Focus on medical practice cashflow. This may be perhaps the single most important aspect of financial sustainability. Without a smooth cashflow, your medical practice will face challenges even during times of high profit margins. It’s important to monitor denials and other key performance indicators, perform medical coding audits, improve clinical documentation, promote clean claim submission, and focus on patient collections in revenue cycle management. Outsourcing your revenue cycle management can help your medical practice streamline operations, reduce administrative burden, and improve cash flow through specialized expertise and efficient processes.
7. Renegotiate payer contracts. Financial sustainability means advocating for yourself and the payment rate you deserve for providing high-quality patient care. Make it a priority to ask for a raise at least every few years (or sooner if warranted) and be sure to keep an eye toward the future in terms of Medicare physician payment reform.
8. Hire the right people. Just as patients are critical for your business, your medical and administrative teams are equally crucial. Be sure to hire people who share your vision and desire to grow the business over time. With a shared vision, you’ll be able to stay focused on what’s most important and work toward the common goal of financial sustainability.
Conclusion
Financial sustainability is critical for today’s medical practices that continue to face economic challenges during times of uncertainty. Taking deliberate steps today to improve revenue cycle management and secure your finances can have a significant impact on your financial future. Learn how edgeMED can help and be sure to check the Healthy Snacks blog for more expert insights, best practices and industry trends.
