As the economy continues to stabilize after the volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, medical practices find themselves in a new landscape characterized by increasing use of technology and telemedicine — and new models for providing services to patients. Although the circumstances are evolving, the same basic challenges tend to recur for physicians and others managing a medical practice. Here’s a look at common problems and ways to solve them.

Issues and answers

In looking at the top challenges that medical practices face, first on the list might well be administrative burdens. Most doctors go into medicine because they want to help people and because they’re interested in science and medicine. They probably don’t expect to spend a significant amount of time filling out forms and figuring out how to practice medicine profitably.

Although administrative burdens aren’t likely to go away, there are some potential solutions. These include staying current with business trends and creating standard operational procedures and routines. It’s also important to train and empower select staff members to handle most business-related activities — so you can concentrate on practicing medicine. Some of the most successful practices hire an accounting firm to handle these matters. But understand that you still have ultimate responsibility for what happens in your practice.

The decision of whether to opt for maintaining an independent practice vs. joining a health care system is another significant challenge many physicians face. Currently, there’s a trend toward consolidation into larger group practices, thus enabling physicians to leverage size without having to work for hospitals. This option also allows physicians to share resources — which can go a long way toward relieving the administrative burdens. But for some physicians, hospital work may be the way to go. It all depends on your personality, energies and focus.

Often one of the biggest headaches for physicians is the need to do battle with payers, and it’s hard to imagine that this problem is going to go away anytime soon. However, having a lean practice with motivated and trained staffers who can stay on top of billing and payer issues can go a long way toward easing the pain.  Again, most profitable practices have third-party help with these matters, such as from an accounting firm. Size matters in negotiations with payers, so again, group practices or regional networks can help to make this situation more manageable.

Patient education

The advent of the Internet and easy access to health care information — regardless of how inaccurate or uninformed it is — can complicate the doctor-patient relationship. It can be hard to balance practicing good medicine with handling patients who attempt to dictate their own health care — particularly in an atmosphere in which many institutions are using positive feedback as a major metric for salaries and bonuses.

It’s important for physicians to be firm in clarifying doctor-patient roles. Sometimes “no” is the appropriate response. And sometimes, like parenting, medicine can be a business of “tough love.”

Staff retention

Keeping staff also is a common challenge. Recruiting and retaining skilled employees — from the receptionist to the physician partners — can be tricky. Studies indicate that high pay and benefits aren’t the only reasons people stay in a job (though, to be fair, they’ll generally appreciate those things).

A key to staff retention is often related to empowerment — letting staff be in charge of their duties and showing them that what they do is important and appreciated. Rewards for good results can be both creative and meaningful, and don’t necessarily have to be raises. Ideas to consider include extra paid time off, gift cards and flexible schedules. Showing appreciation to staff for their efforts can go a long way, too.

Legal matters

Finally, a top headache is liability. Some states and specialties are hit particularly hard by liability insurance. Sometimes this issue drives physicians out of private practice into health care systems — because those systems typically pick up the tab for liability insurance.

If there’s a solution here, it’s for doctors to practice defensive medicine, erring on the side of caution. And though it defies trends in paying, physicians who order more diagnostic procedures frequently find this can lead to less litigation.

Making necessary adjustments

In a time of change, it can be difficult to ascertain which strategies will be most helpful in taking your practice to the next level. Part of the answer is to stay on top of new developments in medical practice management while remaining focused on the issues that are keeping your practice from operating at its best. A well-managed practice can free you to offer the best possible medical care to your patients.

Reach out to Holbrook & Manter today about ways we can help you handle these matters, and many more. We would be happy to partner with your practice.