3 Mistakes That Could Kill Your Medical Practice
Let’s get something out of the way. There are obvious mistakes that can kill your practice – medical malpractice. That’s not the topic of this conversation. Rather, the focus of this article is on managing the business side of your practice. From how you spend your money to how you spend your time, there are three important mistakes to avoid:
Improperly Assessing Your Need for Capital:
There are really two parts to this issue: improperly assessing your initial need for capital, and improperly budgeting for ongoing costs.
On the first front, it’s important that you consider all of the upfront costs you’ll need to start your medical practice. These include:
- Finding and hiring staff
- Purchasing equipment, office, and medical supplies
- Renting or buying a commercial space
- Modifying that space to meet industry standards
- Taxes
- Insurance
Some of these costs (staff, rent, taxes, and insurance) will be ongoing. You’ll need to purchase supplies on a regular basis. And, of course, you’ll want to turn a profit.
That brings us to the second point – improperly budgeting for ongoing costs. You might think you’ve got your budget down pat, but a sudden downturn in the number of patients you see or a sudden uptick in the cost of supplies can throw your budget out of whack – that goes double if both happen at the same time.
There are a couple of ways you can diminish your risks. The first is to get business interruption insurance to cover for lost profits in case of an emergency. The second is to hire an accountant to help you manage your budget, ensure that you get all of the tax breaks you’re entitled to, and plan for best and worst-case scenarios.
That brings us to our next possible mistake:
Not Hiring the Right (or enough) People
Almost all medical practitioners share one important trait: they care deeply about people. One of the consequences of this is that it can be hard for medical practice owners to let people go when they’re not the right fit.
The first step to alleviating this problem is to have a rigorous screening and interviewing process in place. Figure out every role that you’ll need to fill, post on several job boards, and take your time screening resumes and interviewing until you find the perfect candidate.
That brings us to another important point: not hiring enough, or the right kind, of people. There are certain obvious roles: any medical practice will need a secretary, dental clinics will need hygienists, pharmacies will need techs – you get the idea. There are a lot of not-so obvious roles you might need to fill, including:
- Accountants
- Business managers
- Human resources managers
There are several other roles you might find helpful to fill, too. One extremely common mistake practitioners make is to try to tackle everything themselves. For most, it’s useful to stick to your area of expertise, and hire out tasks you aren’t comfortable with, to other people.
Something that’s important to keep in mind: automation can reduce how many people you’ll need on staff. From healthcare maintenance management software to online appointment booking, SaaS automation can be (relatively) inexpensive to acquire and can reduce staff-related overhead.
Not Staying Tapped In
This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make – you need to stay on the up and up when it comes to new technologies, trends, and techniques in your field.
There are some obvious sources for this – the college that oversees your profession in your area, medical magazines, and articles online. You’ll also want to watch what your competitors are doing – the services they’re rolling out, how they’re pricing those services, and where they’re located.
You might also consider staying tapped in by looking at things that are tangential to your practice. Someone who specializes in care for the elderly might look up information on the qualities to look for in a good caretaker so they can make recommendations to their clients. A massage therapist who has a lot of clients looking for a holistic approach to medicine should stay informed about trends in acupuncture or other non-traditional practices.
By watching your budget, hiring people who can help shore up your weaknesses, and staying knowledgeable about the market, you can help establish and grow your medical practice. Even reading articles like this can be a huge boon – invest a bit of time each day to the three things discussed above, and your practice will thrive.
