When it comes to your medical practice, lowering costs is essential. Fortunately, there are ways to achieve it without reducing care of the most important element, your patients.
Equipment and Supplies
Having updated equipment provides efficient results for patients. For example, buying lab equipment in Boston doesn’t have to drain your bank account. Look outside the box. There are many places that sell or lease medical equipment at a reduced cost without sacrifice. For disposables, buying in bulk will lower the cost significantly and allow you to maintain a generous supply at all times. Regarding vendors, don’t be afraid to negotiate a new contract, especially if your supply and demand are on the rise.
Lowering Overhead Costs
A slight change in your indoor temperature can save you up to 10% in energy costs. Lowering the temperature to 68 degrees during the cold weather months and raising it to 74 degrees during the summer is a minor adjustment that can save money. Installing a new HVAC system and a smart thermostat that locks will further enhance your goals. Replacing standard lights with high-efficiency LEDs will also help to lower annual energy costs.
Set Up an Exchange for Medications
Practitioners often have several types of medications in their inventory. Unfortunately, many of these medications go unchecked and expire, causing monetary waste. Instead, keep track of your inventory and when medications come within two-months of their expiration date, list them on an exchange. This will allow you to get some reimbursement helping to reduce waste.
Outsourcing Medical Billing
You operate a small medical practice and handle in-house billing. However, the cost of having a staff dedicated to billing can run upwards of $100,000 or more annually. You also must install a billing program that can add an additional $5,000. On the other hand, if you outsource the service to a billing company you can reduce the annual amount to around 10% of the cost of doing it yourself. Another benefit of using a billing company is you no longer have to worry about payments, they handle that too.
Use Email and Texts
In the past, your office sent reminders by mail for upcoming appointments. Today, many practitioners eliminate paperwork altogether. They send correspondence in the form of an email or text. For informative and preventative information. Many doctors post them for download from their website.
Reduce Employee Turnover
Training employees in medical practice takes many months. Reducing the turnover rate will equal less time invested and more money. It’s important to keep morale up to have a greater level of performance, improved productivity, and better patient retention. One way to achieve it is to have monthly meetings, employee incentives such as rewards and flexible schedules.
A Safe Environment
Unfortunately, COVID-19 is still present and many patients remain fearful of contracting the virus. To prevent patients from leaving your practice, you must maintain a safe environment. De-sanitizing measures must conform to CDC guidelines.
Fast Payment Discounts
Staying on top of your payments for supplies can pay dividends. Many companies offer a discount of up to 10 percent if they receive payments within 10 days. One way to ensure that you don’t miss out is to adopt the policy of paying in advance.
Reducing Medical Benefits
Keeping your staff healthy can lower the cost of health insurance. By having your employees enter a wellness program where they engage in various activities, you can reduce their premiums by 10 to 20% overall.
You can reduce expenses across the board regarding your private practice without compromising quality care for patients.
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