Denise Tumblin, CPA
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Making your practice more profitable isn't about luck. You don't roll the dice and hope to meet your financial goals for the
year. Being profitable is about playing the right hand at the right moment and making changes in your practice that maximize
your profitability. So use these seven strategies to ensure your practice will be flush with success.
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These strategies will help your practice build a solid foundation and stay on track for continued financial success. And
with a steady foundation, your house of cards won't come tumbling down. You don't need to gamble to be successful. Instead,
make slow, steady, and deliberate steps to save for that rainy day and plan for the future. Do that and you'll have an unbeatable
hand.
1 Enhance consistency. Differences in medical philosophies baffle doctors, staff, and clients and can lead to shortcomings in patient care. Say
your standard is to perform annual wellness testing on all senior patients. But only two of four doctors follow the protocol.
This puts half your patients at a medical disadvantage. Don't make people guess what you want. Define your standards of care,
get them in writing, and use them as a teaching tool to communicate your expectations to doctors and staff. Your goals are
to provide high-quality care, nurture lasting client relationships, cultivate happy, productive doctors and staff, and enjoy
a fun, profitable practice.
The bottom line
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2 Develop a budget. Define your goals for spending and revenue growth. Set revenue and expense goals and then share these goals with the team
members who'll help you achieve them. And don't forget to measure and analyze your performance. Create a systematic approach
to reviewing your monthly results, and develop an action plan to respond to problems or opportunities you identify during
this review. Search "budgeting basics worksheet" for a tool to get you started.
3 Encourage staff contributions. Every team member at your practice must be knowledgeable about your standards of care for the sake of consistency and continuity.
It's up to you to teach and mentor your employees and communicate your expectations for upholding those standards. An effective
training program ensures that new team members start off on the right foot and become successful. Regular internal and external
CE encourages employees to grow and will net your practice rewards in the future. Improving staff expertise frees you up to
focus on other things—like seeing more patients, taking a lunch break, or ending the day on time.
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