July 2018 - Capko & Morgan

Responding to external trends that threaten practice profitability

When we work with physicians and managers who've found their financial results have inexplicably declined, they often wonder why the profit numbers changed when the practice is still managed in the same careful way as before. It's a puzzle and a disappointment and a huge source of frustration! But therein lies the rub: As managers, our job is often to respond to changes that happen outside our business. Doing things the same way, even when executing perfectly, is often not enough to assure good results. Things are happening in the broader market that affect our patients and their behavior. It's our job to recognize when trends that have nothing to do with medicine still require a response from our industry. One really powerful example of a completely external trend that is nonetheless affecting every practice business is the rapid adoption of online payments by consumers. If your practice hasn't responded to this trend, it's probably already affecting your collections negatively. The shift in payment behavior by consumers has been dramatic. I created the chart to the left using USPS data showing that single-piece stamped mail has declined more than 50% in the past decade. The Post Office attributes this decline to shifting consumer preferences, especially for bill payment. The days when it was normal behavior for consumers to sit down once a month and review paper statements, write stacks of checks, stuff the checks in return envelopes, then stamp the envelopes and drop them into the mail are rapidly disappearing. Patients' strong preference for paying electronically is both an opportunity and a threat to your practice business. Give patients an easy way to pay online -- better yet, give them electronic statements, too -- and you'll get paid faster, with less labor required, and reduced paper and postage costs, all while making patients happier. Now that's some serious upside! But if you don't make online payments possible, you're also risking getting paid more slowly, with higher collection costs. That's because it's not just a matter of patients preferring to pay online. They're organizing their budgets and managing their money in

By Morgan|2022-01-01T22:51:46-08:00July 21st, 2018|

You can’t cut your way to growth [practice management tip: financial management]

Practice management literature often offers advice about cutting expenses – advice that promises cost-cuts improve margins and “directly boost the bottom line.” Many physician owners and practice managers seem to have internalized the idea, so they’re always on the lookout for things to trim. But is this the best way to strengthen your practice business? Some expenses do nothing to improve your practice. Paying more for identical supplies or credit card processing, for example, won’t serve patients better or boost efficiency. Once you start routinely cutting staff, technology, marketing, or materials, though, the risk of undermining productivity or the patient experience increases. It can creep in so slowly, you might not notice until profitability turns sharply south – when it can be much harder to turn things around. For example, if you’re busy, it may seem like you can “get by” without marketing. But today’s new patients probably reflect marketing efforts started months or even years ago. Cut marketing and you may see little difference – at first. By the time you notice a slowdown, you may be facing a year or more of significant investing before your volume returns. Staffing is another common focus of penny-pinching. Even a little bit of staff downtime can seem wasteful. Trying to trim staff so that employees are busy 100% of the time risks bigger problems, however. Without a bit of “excess” capacity, the impact of disruptions like employee resignations, sick time, or unexpected increases in demand can be much more expensive than the cost of a few “extra” employees. What’s more, too little support also undermines physician productivity, which has a much bigger impact on profit. Global consultants McKinsey & Company published an excellent study showing how continuous efforts to improve margins – rather than build the business – can actually undermine profitability after a few years. Their advice: consider whether expense cuts you’re contemplating will negatively impact customers (patients), your ability to compete with other practices, or both. If you’ve been focusing on expense cuts for a while, you could be in the danger zone. Be sure to give building the

By Morgan|2022-01-01T22:51:46-08:00July 6th, 2018|

Monthly Archives: July 2018

Responding to external trends that threaten practice profitability

You can’t cut your way to growth [practice management tip: financial management]