increasing your medical practice's Revenue

Increasing Your Medical Practice’s Revenue May Be Easier Than You Think

We have written other articles in the past about decreased revenue and increased expenses. It’s an issue every medical practice must understand, and take steps to reverse the trends. Increasing your revenue could be as easy as getting rid of some bad employee habits, or increasing your social media presence.

As we know, the revenue cycle starts when the patient contacts the office to schedule an appointment, whether it is a new or established patient. How many appointments are cancelled because there is an eligibility issue with the patient’s verification of insurance coverage or the patient’s prior authorization cannot be obtained before the appointment? How many days in advance is the front desk or administrative staff verifying insurance and ensuring there is a prior authorization in the office? Does the front desk clerk collect all time of service money, such as copayments, deductibles, and coinsurance? Most patients expect to pay their copayment when they check in for their appointment; however, the money isn’t always collected. Collecting the patient’s payment responsibility prevents the billing staff from having to send a statement to the patient; and, most commercial insurance plans require these copayments, deductibles, and coinsurance to be collected in a timely manner. Your practice management system should be able to run reports regarding time of service collections, and this report can be used to show your front desk staff how they are performing.

When is the last time you updated your practice’s website? If your practice doesn’t have a website, you should set one up as soon as possible. Over 70% of patients consult the internet, and your practice, before scheduling an appointment. Have you looked at similar specialty websites of to determine what your competition is doing? If your website hasn’t been updated in the past few years, your patients may be turned off thinking that perhaps your practice hasn’t kept up with technology. Your website should highlight your strengths by showing the services you provide. Adding articles or videos regarding your services or interviews your physician did on television sets you apart from most practices.

Does your practice have a Facebook page? Are you posting information regularly to keep patients coming back to the Facebook page again? Place information in key areas of your practice with your Facebook information, and encourage your patients to ‘Like’ your page. Finally, your online presence includes patient reviews, which could be on numerous websites that encourage patients to rate their physician. How often are you conducting an online search for your provider’s patient reviews? Do you encourage your patients to make ‘positive’ online reviews? Consider printing up 3X5 cards stating “If you liked your visit today, please go online to give us a positive rating. If you were not happy with your visit, please contact our practice manager to discuss your concerns”. If you get a negative review, do you attempt to resolve negative reviews by responding online with a phrase such as, “I am sorry that your expectations were not met when you visited our practice. I would be happy to talk with you and resolve your concerns. Please contact our office to discuss this further”. A positive online presence could increase the number of patients contacting your office for an appointment, which increases your revenue.

Concordis Practice Management, LLC would be happy to assist you with improving your revenue. We offer services such as coaching for your management team and revenue cycle reviews. Also, we can refer you to a company that can help improve your online presence. Contact Concordis Practice Management today at 210-704-1014.

References:

http://blog.evisit.com/top-46-ways-boost-medical-practice-revenue

https://evisit.com/9-tips-to-increase-medical-practice-revenue/

http://healthcare.intermedix.com/blog/5-ways-to-increase-patient-volume-and-grow-your-medical-practice

https://liveclinic.com/blog/increase-medical-practice-revenue-2017/

 

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