I have never met a consistently successful businessperson who is successful year in year out who does not have some kind of measurement process in place.
Try driving from Sydney to Cairns with no instruments or GPS – chances are you will break the speed limit, run out of fuel, get lost and possible break down because you could not measure.
It is no different for your medical business.
In my guide 'Blueprint For A Wildly Successful Medical Practice' the first tip says 'Measure Everything'
My most successful clients are measuring freaks.
Those in healthcare believe they provide a special service. That is why they see 'patients' not 'customers'. Reality is patients consume healthcare so I now see them as consumers or customers.
Although you may not agree with this but some of the larger primary healthcare groups also known as corporates see their patients as customers and it is one reason they perform better financially.
You see when you see them as patients you only concentrate on healthcare and ignore everything else.
But let me ask you something. Why do you have a Samsung or Apple smartphone and not a Blackberry (yes they still exist)? After all they all serve the same purpose which is make phone calls, have a messaging system and can take photos.
We chose our phones because they give us something outside the core necessities. Healthcare is no different.
So, if you want to grow your practice what 3 metrics are worth looking at?
Fees Received Per Customer (or Patient)
Often when I ask how a well a practice is doing, I get shown total fees received or the number of patients in the patient list.
This helps but the problem is that if we want to grow we tend to focus on getting more patients through the door which results in more hard work or more hours in the surgery if you are an independent contractor.
There is another problem. Increase customers (or patients) need more resources. More administration, possible more doctors and more rooms. These can all be expensive. Not to mention that in order to get more people through the door it will require some kind of marketing cost too.
In the accounting industry, there is an obsession with new client numbers. We spend enormous amounts of money getting new clients, but the reality is we could just sell more services to our existing clients at little cost.
Sometimes we do not look at this way.
So, what can you do instead?
We I have found that those doctors who really know how to use the MBS make the most. What does that mean? Well they use the McDonalds principal although most will never admit that.
Would you like fries with that? Would you like to upgrade to a large?
Yep that right. Those that multi-bill or use expensive Medicare items tend to make more. But let me be clear. You only do this if it makes clinical sense. You do not do it to solely make more money!
Recently we had a practice where I felt the hourly income could be improved. One GP was outstanding in terms of billing and had recently gone though an audit with no major issues. I merely asked the practice owner to set up a meeting and show the other doctors what this GP was doing and how the others can implement it.
It is a bit early to say what the long term position will be but for the last 3 months billings are much higher. Even better customer (or patient) reviews are higher because they feel as if the practice is taking more interest in their health.
Cancelations or No Shows
Believe it or not, every single cancelled or forgotten appointment is costing you money you cannot get back. It is in your interest to keep these as low as possible. So, finding out how many cancelled on you this week, last fortnight, and last month can tell you how much money you lost because someone could not organise their diary. If there was a way to reduce that lost income, you should investigate it. How do you do that?
Modern calendar systems have built-in processes that have the ability to send out text and email messages to your patients to remind them of appointments. This really is useful and most practices use them.
But there is a bit more. Receiving a text message increases the chances of a patient turning up. But sometimes they need a bit more than a single reminder. Texting them helps but give them a call as well and they are almost guaranteed to turn up. Two texts and a phone call. I would say that is worth doing if it means you get the money in.
Sending reminders and calls is one thing, but what if they do not respond and what if they say "no.†If you have no back-up, all you have is knowledge that you may or may not have a patient turning up. You may have still lost the income.
You need a back-up system to ensure if you have a patient cancel, you can get someone else in. I have worked with many medical practices where we have a system of waiting lists. Some medical practices in Australia are booked up for weeks, and so waiting lists can easily be prepared. Have a system that can utilize the waiting list and you are on to a winner.
Wait Times
I know what you are thinking. How does this help growth? If does especially in relation to cancelled appointments.
If you ask customers (or patients) why they did not turn up one of their main reasons is wait times. You see everyone is busy. If they are on a tight schedule and they know you routinely run 45 minutes late they do not turn up.
I have one key measurement when it comes to customer or patient satisfaction, especially for anyone under the age of 35. How long they have to wait. It also determines their loyalty to you.
Wait times is also one of the reasons why Umbrella Health, a health group based in Victoria has consistently high reviews. Their wait times on average is 3 minutes. They are using real time technology to keep patients informed if the doctor is running late.
The technology is available. It makes sense to use it to keep wait times down.
Summary
When it comes to growth do not assume you have to have more customers coming through the door.
Engaging with your existing customers might prove less stressful and less costly. There is the added benefit of long term loyalty too.
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