6 Ways to Significantly Improve your Medical Practice

Your medical practice wasn’t the easy thing to build, and now that you’re established, it’s time to think about improving. You may not have really thought much about changes, but some things can be really important when it comes to keeping your patients trust and continued patronage. Here are six ideas that can help make your practice stand out:

1. Electronic Medical Records

Yes, the cost of upgrading beyond your trusty stack of paper files is a hefty one, but so are the benefits. A good medical recording system will pay for itself. Electronic records allow you to make changes to any record at the click of a button. You won’t have to worry about whether or not a technician brought the record into the room. You don’t have to worry if the new girl at the front desk put all the right papers in the records. It’s all right there at your fingertips. It also makes your office less cluttered and look very professional.

2. Display your staff’s credentials

When patients visit your office, they are concerned about the quality of care they will be receiving. That doesn’t just mean that they want to know where the doctor’s knowledge comes from, but they would like to know a little bit about your staff too. An easy way to do this is to have your employees scrubs embroidered with their names and credentials, such as Mary, RN or Donald, MA. This lets your patients know that your staff is qualified too. If your staff doesn’t have these kinds of qualifications, you might want to consider sending them for some continuing education.

3. Upgrade your waiting room

Is your waiting room looking a little worse for wear? Are you still using the same chairs you found at the second hand store when you first opened your practice? Is the floor still stained where that toddler spilled his red Kool-Aid two years ago? Then it’s probably time for a change. Get some comfy chairs. Put in some faux wood flooring. Go through the magazines and decide which ones you shouldn’t be subscribing to and find some new ones to display. Your waiting room sets the tone for your whole office, so you want it to look inviting and professional.

4. Invest in an answering service

An answering service is a great alternative to an answering machine. Half the time you can’t understand what is said on them anyway. An answering service can treat your patients with respect and courtesy while providing you with easy to interpret, accurate information on what your patients need when they call after hours. 

5. Update your billing system

Gone are the days when anyone can print an invoice and stick it in an envelope. Billing first requires insurance authorization, verification, payment submission, and then deduction from the entire bill. And that’s the short version. There are plenty of programs out there that certify individuals as medical insurance clerks and billers. Find someone who really knows what they are doing and pay them accordingly. Your patients will appreciate it, and so will you.

6. Confirm appointments

One of the best ways to make sure your schedule is full is to actually start confirming appointments. It is an extra step for your employees to go through, but it’s an important one. It reminds your patients of their appointment, and it gives them a chance to cancel or reschedule. One of the most efficient ways to do this now is with text messaging. Set up a texting service and have your patients provide a cell phone for text reminders. They can text back to either confirm or cancel the appointment. People don’t always have time to answer a phone call or listen to a voicemail, but just about everyone can sneak a peek at a text during the day.

Keeping your practice updated can mean the difference in meeting the needs of an ever-changing patient base and closing your doors early on. It took a long time to get your practice up and running, so don’t sell it short. Keep working on it, and it will pay off.

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