Easy Ways to Save Money and Boost Profits when Running a Private Practice

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Easy Ways to Save Money and Boost Profits when Running a Private Practice

If you run a private practice, then you will understand how stressful it can be at times. After all, you need to look out for the welfare of your patients and your staff, all while balancing your finances and vendors. This can be difficult, but believe it or not, there are ways for you to try and cut the cost of running your own practice.

Go Paperless

When you go paperless, you can easily cut down on the cost of printer ink, paper, stamps and even envelopes. It also gives you the chance to automate your processes as well, which can work wonders for your staff production and their efficiency. It’s not hard to make these changes at all, and once you have the templates for the documents you need in an electronic format, they can then be shared across a cloud. This will connect every single device you have in the practice and it is also way more secure. You don’t have to worry about shredding every single document you don’t need, nor do you have to pay for costly administration mistakes. How much you implement measures like this will really depend on the type of business you run and the software that you have, but either way, small changes really can go a long way.

Setup A Social Media Account

Social media accounts are free to set up. They can also help you to increase your online presence as well. It makes it easier than ever for you to engage with your current and potential patients, while also establishing an online community for your practice. It doesn’t take long to do this, and you would be surprised at the benefits it can offer. If you are not sure how to conduct yourself on social media, then it is more than possible for you to hire a social media manager to help you with this. They can work with you to make sure that you are not hurting your reputation by the decisions you make, and they can even help you to promote your page by using targeted advertisements too.

Voice Value

Why pay for an answering service, when you can have a virtual phone service instead? They are much more affordable and some of them even allow users to record their own messages. They can also give your patient the chance of dialing an extension number. This will connect them to the right department with ease, and it will also save your staff a ton of time. It’s much more efficient for your patients and it can really help you to take your private practice to that next level.

Faxes

It’s very easy for you to reduce printing costs by avoiding the fax machine. You can receive medical records online with ease and this gives you the chance to send faxes electronically. When you do this, you can then access the documents you need without having to worry about having a physical copy on-hand all the time. If you want to take things to that next level, then you might even want to try prep-printing. When you do this, you can share a single network printer for everyone who is in the office. This will save you from buying and maintaining multiple printers at any given time, and it will also save you a fortune in ink.

Go Green

The more you can go green, the better. Try and do everything you can to save money by investing in energy efficient technology. When you do this, you can help to sustain your medical practice in the future and it can also help you to make a good impression on your potential patients. If you are not quite sure how to go green, then consider installing motion-sensor office lights. You can also send your staff reminders about switching off the computers when they are not in use as well, as this can easily become a major, hidden expense.

Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Discounts

When running your own private practice, you should always buy in bulk. You also need to make sure that you are asking for discounts where possible. It doesn’t matter whether you are buying office equipment, because every little really does help. If you want to qualify for even bigger discounts, then it is more than possible for you to partner up with other practices. Some vendors will give you a discount if you choose to pay upfront as well, so do keep that in mind.

Choose Second-Hand

Think about it, do you really need everything brand-new? Probably not. Choose second-hand where possible. You can find a lot of items on Facebook or at auctions. You can easily pick up some chairs for your waiting room, a TV for your patients to watch or even a coffee table with ease. When you do this, you prevent wastage and you can also save a small fortune at the same time.

Lower the Cost of Labour

Do you need an extra set of hands? Then why not get an intern who is willing to learn the ropes, rather than a fully-qualified staff member. When you do this, they can then grow with your practice and they are more likely to be loyal as well. It is even possible for you to outsource medical billing too, so if you find that you get flooded in paperwork when invoice day comes along then this can be a thing of the past.

Cut Cable

Sure, you may love to offer your patients something good to watch while they wait. This could include CNN or even the Discovery Channel. If you think about it though, how long are they going to be waiting for? Hopefully not very long, so try and avoid paying for anything like cable. Instead, play family-friendly or even informational videos. This will keep the kids entertained and it will also give your patients something to watch in the meantime.

Documents and Magazines

Don’t pay for reading material. Instead, ask your doctors and staff members to bring in any old books that they have. You could even ask them to bring in a newspaper or an older magazine. This will save you a small fortune in subscription costs and your doctors would probably be more than happy to help out. If you are worried about clutter then have a clear-out once a month and discard any that have been there for a while.

A Welcoming Environment

It’s so important that you make your practice as welcoming as possible. You need to try and include things like free-WiFi, and you also need to make sure that your waiting area is comfortable. If your practice does not offer this then you may come across as being cold and unwelcoming and this is the last thing that you need. It also helps to use as many bright colors as possible, as this will brighten the space and it will also make it feel cleaner and warmer.

Create Great Content

It’s great if you are able to publish articles or even write a few blogs. When you do this, you can then be seen as an authority in your niche and you can also help yourself to really drive new patients. The more your readers think that they can trust you, the better as well so it is important that you keep this in mind.

Update Your Site

If you have not updated your site in quite some time, then you need to get this done. Create a customized page and highlight all of your strengths. You also need to try and avoid the standard website templates you see online. There is a high chance that your patients will have seen them before and they may even think poorly of your site. If you want to try and get around this then you need to try and invest in a quality website designer. They can help you to bring your site to life and they can also build and customize it around your offerings.

Expand your Services

You may think that your practice offers everything that your patients need, and this is great. If you can, however, you should always consider adding alternatives where possible. You can add medical massages, nutritional services or even a chiropractor. If your patients feel as though they can get everything they need and more from you then they won’t be as likely to go to someone else and this can help them to be more loyal as well. If you need some help with this then look at your competition. Are they offering anything that you aren’t? If so, then look into expanding your own to match theirs. When you have done this, you then need to look into going that extra mile, so your potential patients are more encouraged to come to you over them. This is a great way for you to really help yourself to get those numbers up.