Top Ways to Increase Medical
Practice Revenue
You may already be doing some of these, but
chances are there are at least a few new tactics that could help
your practice’s financial health.
Interested in learning more about how to implement one of these
revenue tips? If there’s an included link, click to read more.
Patient Environment and Services
- Street Appeal —Make sure that
the outside of your business is inviting to patients. - Office Environment — Make your
office user-friendly with services like free Wi-Fi, clean and
comfortable waiting areas, and good reading materials. - Reduce Wait
Times — Long wait times can be a key reason patients decide
to leave your practice, or go to the retail clinic down the
street for quick consult - Train Your Staff on Your Services — Customer
service is key in healthcare. Train your staff to be
polite, professional and engaging. - Expand Your Medical Services —
Consider adding alternative medicine and therapy to
your office’s list of service. Medical massage,
chiropractic services, or even a nutritionist
helps differentiate you from your competition.
Customer Feedback
- Encourage Online Reviews —
Positive reviews drive new patients to your door. Encourage
patients to leave comments on review sites like Yelp! - Master Social Media — Start
conversations and engage your clientele on social media. - Become a YouTube Content Creator
— Videos help people understand topics like women’s health,
dieting, and medication. - Create Authority Through Content
— publish articles in journals or write a book. Or just start
small with a few blog posts on your practice website or
another medical site. Being an authority drives new patients
to you.
Online
- Expand Your
Online Presence — many new patients are looking for new
doctors by searching online.
Compete Using Your Strong Points — Use quality service
as a weapon against cheaper prices.- Update your Practice Website —
create a custom page that highlights your strengths. Avoid the
cookie cutter templates and fill your site with helpful links
to articles you’ve written, social media, and YouTube. - Use Technology to Attract
Younger Patients. Millenials want more convenient,
tech-integrated healthcare. Try offering online appointment
booking, virtual visits, text reminders, and optimizing your
patient portal. - Create an
Online Library — Encourage patients to read care sheets by
making them available online.
Technology
- Encourage
Wearable Products. Brush up on mHealth — Wearable technology
is a driving force in healthcare. - Patients are
interested in using technology to better manage their
health. Showing you’re up on the trends will get you
happier, healthier patients who are impressed with your
level of service. - Change with Technology — Offer the best
services with new equipment.
Sticky
- Affordable Patient Education
Classes — Target your audience such as diabetics, dieters,
people trying to stop smoking, etc. Some classes may be
billable. - Expand Appointment Options — Can
you offer weekend or evening appointments at your office?
Could you supplement in-person visits with virtual care in the
off-hours? - Consider Wellness Clinics —
Group visits and clinics help raise ROI for you and your
patients.
Care and Interaction
- Encourage Boosters — Flu shots,
school vaccines, MMR’s are all easy money. Try sending out an
email campaign to patients with reminders to get all their
vaccines. - Embrace Medicare — There are a
lot of services that Medicare covers such as DME, diabetic
supplies, etc.
Your Community
- Partner with other Vendors —
Partner with a local gym so your patients get a discount for
getting healthy. That is a marketable service that draws in
more patients.ditions. - Lease a Classroom — There are
plenty of other professionals that would lease a classroom
from you. Yoga is a good example. - Add a Cash-Pay Side — cash
services are a big business. Try offering additional services
that may not be covered by insurance, on a cash-pay basis to
patients. - Work-Related Services —
physicals, drug screens, health screenings for employers,
insurance companies, and government agencies can be a great
way to get more business and find new patients. - Renegotiate Payer Contracts —
Review and renegotiate your rates. Add new ones at least
annually. - Evaluate Scheduling — You want
to see as many patients as possible, but you don’t want to
downplay quality. - Refills by Virtual Appointment —
Instead of calling in prescription refills, do them via
virtual visit with patients so you can charge for the service! - Your Ideal Patient Persona —
Learn what your practice’s ideal patient is and then focus
marketing to that target audience. - Expand Your Medical
Services — Consider adding alternative medicine and
therapy to your office’s list of service. Medical
massage, chiropractic services, or even a
nutritionist helps differentiate you from your
competition. - Give
Back — Donate some time or sponsor community groups that are
improving healthcare. The goal is to get your name out
there.
Financial
- Buy Rather than Lease — Evaluate
your financials and the location and see if you can buy. Rent
can be a huge cost, and money that’s not going towards any
future investment in your practice. - Bill for Missed Appointments —
No-shows cost your practice money. Institute a cancellation
policy and charge for these. - Go Digital — Cloud-based storage
saves doctors thousands of dollars each year. Go digital! - Review Billing — Submit bills
daily, follow up on denied claims, do not let revenue sit out
in unpaid claims. - Check Insurance Often — Copy
insurance cards and verify the insurance is up-to-date at the
time the appointment is made, to avoid any billing headaches
later on. - Let Patients Pay Online —
If patients have a way to pay online, there’s less likely to
be a delay in payment, or a case of the bill getting lost in
the mail. - Hire More Staff — Avoid overtime
and offer flexible hours or shifts. - Evaluate Your Marketing Strategy
— Make sure that your marketing metrics are measurable. Get
rid marketing that does not have a positive ROI. - Consider Outsourcing — Is it
cheaper to outsource some office work? - Join a Purchasing Club — Save on
office and cleaning supplies. - Pre-certification — Make sure
you have authorization on all services over a specified dollar
amount. - Government Contracts — Apply for
contracts that bring patients into your practice. - Review Your ICD-10 Codes — At
least monthly make sure you have the correct codes. - Collect Co-pays and
out-of-pocket expenses at the time of service.