Latest News

  • Do you have a general practice management question you’d like our opinion on? Share it here anonymously and we’ll respond with our view. (Please note, this feature is for public questions, asked anonymously, and answered with our general viewpoint. If you’d like a private consultation about a specific problem at your practice, our “20 minutes, one question” service might be a better resource.)

  • How knowledgeable are you about theft inside medical practices — and preventing it? This quiz is designed to get you thinking about how you can protect the money you’ve worked so hard to earn. Embezzlement always leaves practice owners feeling violated. In some cases, when the amounts are large, a practice’s profitability can even be jeopardized by an embezzler. Take the quiz — it only takes about five minutes — and feel free to get in touch with us if you have questions about the information. We’re offering a free 15-minute call to any practice owner who takes the quiz and wants to discuss any concerns it brings to the surface.  

  • Few things are more unnerving than realizing your business is less profitable than it once was—or than you counted on. The instinct to take immediate action is understandable. If you’re a physician, responding quickly to urgent situations is second nature. And after all, if your profit is suddenly on a lower trajectory, you may have reason to be concerned that you’re heading toward a personal financial emergency. Though it’s natural to act fast, resist the instinct to attempt a quick fix. Here’s what to do instead. Invest enough time to be sure you’ve accurately identified the problem. First instincts about the causes of profitability problems are often incorrect. That’s why getting a handle on the root causes of your situation is crucial—before taking corrective action. Start with a meticulous review of your financial statements and accounting data for the past few years. Compare each revenue source and expense line in detail, making sure you have all the information you need to compare apples-to-apples. For example, if your accountants have changed up your chart of accounts, ask them to help you dig into the expense and revenue ledgers to find any specific items that have increased or decreased significantly over time. Carefully consider the impact of extraordinary items, lags, and run rates. Be sure to review both year-over-year and month-by-month financial data. Any one-time expenses or revenues (e.g., an unforeseen legal expense, preventable inventory spoilage, or unexpected income like Meaningful Use payments) should be separated out to determine underlying, standardized financial performance. This will help you avoid confusion about whether specific items constitute harmful trends or are simply timing differences or extraordinary items unlikely to recur. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve hired a new physician during the year. At the end of the year, you may find that her revenue falls short of expectations. But it might be incorrect to conclude that her production is not on target. Several types of lags could affect her total for that first year. Her productivity for the final two or three months of the year will tell you more about the pace she’s […]

  • I had an inspiring conversation with a young physician recently. He is looking forward to one day owning a practice. He envisions himself establishing a practice ethos that encourages colleagueship and respects physician excellence. “Expert culture,” he says, is the key to physician engagement and avoiding burnout. His passion was infectious. I can’t help be animated by the idea of brilliant doctors motivating each other to be even better! Moreover, like many of us in healthcare, I’m concerned about the rise in physician burnout, and I agree with this ambitious doctor that more respect for expertise could help alleviate it. But a question occurred to me as we were talking: What about applying the same thinking to the business side of medicine? The idea of setting a similar standard of professionalism for administration may not be intuitively obvious. It only makes sense that clinical expertise is king in our practices. Sometimes, though, even unintentionally, acknowledging this can translate into a more casual attitude about the administrative work being done to support the practice of medicine. This can mean that important business pillars of the practice are not as strong as they could be. This is not unique to medicine. It’s become a cliché that law firms, for example, often struggle with business management, despite being populated by brainy overachievers. Many fast-growing startups are created by smart people with an avid interest in a particular invention, technology, or service—and less interest in the daily nuts-and-bolts of management, which gets the short shrift. In all these examples, when management takes too much of a back seat, the financial success of the organization—and even the ability to achieve the core mission—may suffer. Adopting the same professional standards on the business side that you aim for on the clinical side can help avoid unnecessary costs. What’s more, it can encourage profitability and growth, building the value of your asset. It can also make your practice a much more pleasant place to work! So what are the hallmarks of a professional practice organization? Here are a few: Formalized, forward-thinking human resources policies Small businesses of […]

  • Physician burnout is widely considered a pernicious epidemic that puts physician and patient health at risk. Frustratingly, it’s also often assumed that inescapable facts of physician life are to blame: increasing documentation demands; mandatory EMR technology that’s far less than ideal; and a physician culture that prizes self-reliance and endurance over self-care. Individual practices may not be able to move the needle at all on these huge factors, but we don’t have to throw up our hands and give up on avoiding or ameliorating burnout. There are many small but significant changes that managers and owners can make that can have a positive impact on physicians’ work lives, reducing stress and boosting morale – and the great news is these changes often bring other benefits to the practice business. Fairness and transparency: technology can help I often write about technology that can help practices run better. It’s one of my favorite topics, partly because I feel that challenging EMR implementations have left many physicians and administrators feeling very skeptical about technology and hesitant to adopt recent innovations – even ones that were developed in a more physician- and practice-focused way. Many newer tech tools can both increase practice efficiency and improve communication and transparency, changing physicians’ work lives for the better. For example, for specialties with on-call responsibilities, scheduling is often a massive chore. When the process is regarded as a “black box,” it can be a source of stress and distrust. On-call scheduling usually involves a patchwork of requirements and assumptions. When the rules aren’t automated, crafting a compliant schedule is a tedious process usually handled by one or two experts (who had better not get hit by a bus, lest all that knowledge disappear!). Even something as simple as two physicians swapping call can throw a monkey wrench into the works. Tech solutions for on-call scheduling address all these operational issues. They’re marketed mainly as a means to streamline scheduling and reduce errors and liability – worthy and profitable advantages to be sure. But there are happy byproducts of automating the schedule – such as making sure it […]

ENSURING YOUR SYSTEMS ARE OPTIMAL

Avada is the perfect choice for your business software needs.

Quisque blandit dolor risus, sed dapibus dui facilisis sed. Donec eu porta elit. Aliquam porta sollicitudin ante, ac fermentum orci mattis et phasellus ac nibh eleifend.

217

A Place Where People Enjoy Working.

Quisque blandit dolor risus, sed dapibus dui facilisis sed. Donec eu porta elit. Aliquam porta sollicitudin ante.