Due to the demands of running a family practice it is not surprising that family physicians are constantly under stress. Not only does today’s competition and market pressures make things hard – there is also practice efficiency, which is important for doctors to sustain in order to stay abreast against competitors.

The bottom line is that improving efficiency and management skills will help you regain some control as a family practice owner. Drawing a budget plan and optimum use of resources will make your practice more rewarding, and it will help you attract new patients.

Here are four tips that will help you increase the revenue of your family practice instantly.

1. Reduce Administrative Burdens

At least half of all family physicians devote a minimum of 10 hours per week on administrative tasks – this is not doing anyone any good. Physicians should avoid tasks that don’t require an MD – that is what your administration is for. Examine your activities and delegate as many administrative tasks as possible without affecting your understanding of the practice’s operations. One way to do this is to outsource family practice billing services to experts; that will help you to increase your profit margins, and free up your time so you can focus on what you’re trained to do – help people. Plus – the billing experts are probably better at performing complicated tasks like submitting claims, issuing patient statements and so on, so why not let the pros handle it?

2. Improve Patient Flow

Like I just said – as a physician you should be focusing on patient care and patient care alone. If you’re a numbers person I’ll say that you minimum should be 37 hours a week of direct patient care. Being aware of your practice and knowing that it is well managed is the key to efficiency, so you need to ensure you are making optimal use of staff, facilities, and your time. Focus your efforts and provide quality care to a large community of patients, instead of just a handful. Making sure that you are staying on schedule, dictating progress notes in the exam room, and evaluating new services and equipment beforehand will help you see more patients.

3. Use a Good Scheduling System

I have noticed that many practices hire an assistant without expertise to schedule appointments manually. What some do not understand is that good scheduling plays a very important role in increasing the patient flow – it can be up to two or more patients per day. The increase in number of patients is directly proportional to the net income of a practice – so you can see that good scheduling will directly reflect your bottom line. Make sure that you develop a good scheduling system and hire an expert to manage it and make sure the entire staff understands it. I guess I should also say that you could consider an appointment scheduling software for the purpose – which uses a computerized system and is effective, productive and less labor intensive. That being said any staff that are working with the program directly will need to be trained on how to use it.

4. Establish an Incentive System

A good incentive system helps to make the medical staff feel vested in the outcome and improves efficiency and teamwork. Set your expectations for your staff and reward performance accordingly. The only thing to keep in mind is that you should be assured of the benefit before you start an incentive program.

At Park Medical Billing our professionals help small and medium sized family practices identify areas of revenue loss. Park Medical Billing prepares its staff to handle complexities of EHR, EMR and ICD-10, and can help you get your practice back on track.

If you would like to speak with one of our expert please comment below with contact information, or give us a call. Our number is 1-201-585-7306, or you can fill out our contact form online.