Building upon the success of others is vital to medical advances. It’s why pioneers such as Edward Jenner (vaccinations), William T.G. Morton (anesthetics), and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (X-rays) remain celebrated.

It’s similarly important to build upon the achievements of successful medical practices. After all, achieving the primary mission of any practice — patient care — is incumbent upon the practice remaining open. That’s why we examined common attributes of profitable medical practices: to glean what lessons exist to share with other practices. Here are 4 attributes of profitable medical practices to apply!

                                   Optimized Operations

No practice can succeed without smooth and well thought-out operations. One key to optimized operations is the acknowledgment that small changes can have significant budgetary implications over time.

A common revenue mistake practices make: not addressing patient payment issues promptly. Collecting pay when services are rendered makes a quick impact to the bottom line.

Similarly, taking care to hire a courteous and knowledgeable staff can make a big difference to a practice, too. That knowledge can be maintained with support for annual staff training opportunities.

Speaking of staff, confidential staff surveys can help you create an environment in which process or performance issues can be identified and corrected before they lead to far more significant problems.

                               Identify the Ideal Patient

Ideal patients share certain characteristics with ideal physicians, such as courtesy and respect. They bear other aspects, however, that make them great “partners” for profitable practices. An ideal patient:

• Is happy with and appreciates your care
• Refers the practice to friends and family members
• Seeks treatment for all his or her health needs at your practice

… and more. In general, the best patients will act as brand ambassadors for you and your practice. And since you don’t know at first which patients will become ideal, the best choice is to groom all of them with outstanding service every time.

                                      Put a Plan Together

Another one of the 4 attributes of profitable medical practices would be to form a plan. Whether you create a plan that you end up following to the letter or one from which you veer regularly, the effort it takes to put a plan together will help you identify — and subsequently work through — any issues preventing your practice from achieving the profitability levels you want.

One such plan is the cash-flow forecast, which will help you predict your bank balance at the end of each month, respond to year-over-year monthly revenue fluctuations, and track performance goals.

Profitable medical practices also work with a business plan to help chart their revenue growth and achieve any large-scale goals. One suggestion when you’re putting one of these together, though: don’t work from a template. Develop a business plan specifically for your practice.

                                       Fulfill Future Needs

It doesn’t require a crystal ball to know that the medical field is changing now and will look different — perhaps notably so — in a few years. Fields like direct primary care, concierge medicine, and regenerative medicine regularly garner interest from patients and doctors alike for the various benefits each presents.

An argument can be made for examining each as a potential source of future revenue. Profitable medical practices understand that what got them to where they are won’t be enough to get them where they want to go and respond by looking toward the horizon, toward techniques that advance patient care and comfort.

Profitable medical practices are also more likely to utilize their space fully. Otherwise, valuable money and resources are going to waste. A DEXA machine, for example, fits in the average examination room — perhaps one that sits empty — and can infuse a practice with revenue and branding opportunities. Weight management programs, massage therapy, even physical fitness: there are many facets to treating the whole body that you can use by leveraging your total square footage.

                                  An Additional Attribute

Working with qualified and dedicated partners is instrumental in developing your practice’s profitability further. iRad works with medical practices on new and developing revenue streams and can work with yours, as well. Contact us today to learn more about how we can make your tomorrows even more profitable and help you ensure the continuation of patient care for many years to come.