6 Ways to Make Your Dental, Medical, or Veterinary Practice Financially Secure
Owning and operating a dental, medical, or veterinary practice can at times feel like a
gamble—and there is no doubt that it can be stressful to ensure that your practice is financially
viable and secure. Your revenues are dependent on many factors, namely consistently
attracting and retaining your patient base, offering a talented staff competitive salaries and
benefits, realizing timely payments and reimbursement from insurance companies, controlling
operational costs and overhead, and much more. In this blog, the team of experts at LenDRgroup Consulting will outline some helpful tips to ensure your dental, medical, or veterinary practice achieves financial security.
Keep Your Practice’s Finances in the Black
- Set clear policies and ensure the staff understands processes. For instance, check a
patient’s insurance eligibility prior to an appointment. Remember, just because a
patient presents a card doesn’t mean their benefits are current. Additionally, when
patients schedule an appointment, remind them that payment for their portion of a
visit, such as a co-pay, is expected when they check-in. Finally, ensure patients realize
their financial responsibility by having them sign off on a form that details interest on
outstanding balances, collection policies, etc. It’s also important to ensure patients
have many options to pay, including credit cards, and other specialized credit services,
like Care Credit. - Create diversified referral sources. It’s important not to put all of your eggs in one
basket. Devise a marketing strategy that offers a comprehensive funnel where new
patients have multiple avenues for “meeting” you. Network so other professionals know
who you are and what your practice offers and ensure you have an Internet and social
media presence that is high-quality, active, and visible. In this last regard, it may be
beneficial to partner with a marketing company that specializes in marketing for dental,
medical, and veterinary practices only—and understands the challenges of your
industry. - Generate multiple revenue streams. You should have a strategy for bringing in
revenue outside of simply trading your time for the fees your patients pay you. For
instance, this could come in the form of starting a group practice, offering supplemental
products for sale in your office, consulting outside of your office, and providing virtual
visits or after-hours services just to name a few ideas. - Track systems and processes and eliminate redundancies. Another way to ensure
financial health for your practice is to ensure that the technology, systems, processes, and
equipment you use are streamlined, efficient, up-to-date, and reliable. Eliminate
unnecessary expenses by minimizing duplication while also confirming appointment,
practice, and revenue cycle management systems are integrated with each other and
help your business office function effectively. - Use debt strategically. Recently covered in another LenDRgroup blog, know that debt
can be a positive business driver and can not only help your practice achieve financial
security, but can also enable growth and expansion, invest in new technology, and hire
more staff to accommodate more patients. However, ensure you are taking on debt
strategically—and not just for the sake of taking on debt. There is no better way to put
your practice into a precarious position than to have debt that you cannot payback.
- Partner with an expert. We say this often to our clients—you went to school
so you would have the skills and knowledge to deliver high-quality patient care. You
likely did not go to business school, nor do you claim to be an expert in the area of
finance. And really, that’s okay. You have highly developed knowledge that the majority
of the population does not have—and they put their trust in you to help them achieve
positive health outcomes. Therefore, it is wise for any dental, medical, or veterinary
practice owner to partner with somebody who understands the intricacies and
challenges associated with operating in your individual space. When you partner with an advisor or consultant, like LenDRgroup Consulting, you will receive a strategic and
comprehensive approach to ensuring the long-term viability and profitability of your
practice. And you can rest confidently knowing you have somebody to work alongside you
every step of the way.
Partner with LenDRgroup Consulting
There are many avenues for ensuring your dental, medical, or veterinary practice attains
financial security—and we are proud to help professionals like you realize their short and long-
term dreams. Reach out to our team today and schedule a consultation. We would love to help
you make 2022 the year that you reach new heights of stability and profitability.
