Medical Practices: The 2012 Year In Review

For the better part of 2012 I have been blogging for Physicians Practice’s Practice Notes and I am so thankful for the opportunity to share my experience and my opinion (because let’s face it, I am very opinionated) with you during 2012.

Here are some of the things we have learned:

• It is important for your clinic to be on time, be honest and apologetic, and have a bail-out plan when patients take up too much time with non-medical issues.
• You should declare your office a Gossip Free Zone!
• Don’t let your office manager sit in his/her office, they should be out in the clinic.
• Don’t buy or sign up for ancillary services without performing or having performed a reimbursement analysis.
• Focus your office on customer service.
• When staffing your office, it is quality not quantity that pays off.
• Registered Nurses can be great assets in primary care/family practice offices.
• Convert to an EHR, it is time to get rid of the paper charts.
• It’s okay to use a billing service in primary care, if your billing staff is inexperienced and your volume is high.
• Don’t let no-shows get you down, there are remedies for that.
• Get rid of the closed glass partition between your receptionist and waiting room.
• Increase patient satisfaction using Customer Service from the H.E.A.R.T.
• Find creative ways to market.
• There are more than 10 reasons you can be thankful this year.
• Hire a marketer!