Four actions that will destroy your practice. Avoid them at all costs.
1. Dishonesty-Sadly when economies turn south, good people sometimes do bad things. When you are in a position to sign insurance forms, disability forms and accept credit cards you have been given a huge social and legal responsibility. Not only is it your ethical duty to protect the patient but it is also your legal duty. Dishonesty always starts small and then mushrooms out of control. Never think of padding a bill, falsifying records, or charging a credit card improperly. Everyday we read of business leaders and doctors who have lied, cheated, and stolen assets of innocent victims.They never believed that they would get caught. If you are doing dishonest deeds cease immediately.
2. Poor Management– Many practices are brought to their knees because the doctor did not know how to run a business.It is imperative that you know how to run a business. If you are bouncing checks, paying late fees and don’t know how to read basic financial statements learn as quickly as possible.
3. Patients are not Relevant- Are you rushing from room to room? Are your patients waiting more than ten minutes? Does it take you more than 24 hours to fill out requested forms? Your practice is based on your patients. Excellent customer service is the key to having them come back. You must make your patients feel special on each and every visit.
4. Refusal to Hire the Proper Advisers– Business owners fail to realize that the money that often think they are saving by doing it themselves ends up costing much more in the end. Did you spend money on marketing this year? Did it yield the number of new patients that you expected it too? Did you get at least a 4:1 return on investment? Strategic-based marketing is the key to improving your marketing efforts. Learn how to create a UVP and how deploy strategic campaigns and I am confident that you will be very happy with your results. Never be your own attorney. I spend more time trying to get doctors out of bad leases, partnerships, and deals that they made by being their own attorney. Had they hired the attorney in the first place they could have saved a ton of money in the long run.
Like it or not you have spent or you will spend more money if you act as your own: Attorney, Accountant, Business coach, Insurance agent, or Compliance expert. Each of these professionals you will either hire willingly and invest money with them to help you grow your practice and protect your assets or you will pay via mistakes. According to statistics, people who hire professionals make or save more money than those that do not. Our clients have increased their income 145% since 2008 with the help of coaching. People who use investment advisers statistically earn an additional 3% on their portfolios after paying their advisory fees.The lesson-hire professional to help you.
By preventing and or limiting mistakes will put more money into your pocket and allow you to deliver better care to your patients. Remember mistakes cost you time, money and energy. If you made a mistake and you are now worrying about it, your worry is taking precious time away from your patient which could and usually does lead to a down-turn. Remember to always practice PTC (present time consciousness).