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3 Types of Services Physicians Can Use to Build their Practice

Posted by on 03 April 2017
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Mature scientist looking through a microscope in the laboratory.Running a successful medical practice requires a lot of time and effort, and a small, private practice can’t always afford the luxury of having a dedicated staff member assigned to each job. This leads to several employees wearing multiple hats, which can prevent them from providing the best service possible. The physician should be able to give patients their full attention without being distracted by untangling financial webs, scrambling to fix network crashes, or worrying about how to promote their practice online

Fortunately, there are several companies that now cater to these smaller medical practices, providing managed services for multiple clinics and allowing those clinics to focus their attention on patient care.

Billing Services

The financial side of running a small business is already complicated, but adding in factors such as health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid makes things even more complex. Fortunately, healthcare billing services like athenahealth are specialized in navigating this tangled financial web.
These types of services are more than just financial software. They employ experts to handle claim submissions, manage insurance denials, and post payment, along with other services. Some services will even coach healthcare employees and help them to identify problem areas to improve the practice’s financial results. The goal is to reduce the time between the patient’s visit and when the practice receives its payment while decreasing the hassle the practice’s employees face at the same time.

Managed Security/IT

Medical records contain some of the most sensitive information there is about people, and that information needs to remain private and secure. That’s why it is absolutely crucial that healthcare practices have a secure network and storage solution for all of their patients’ records, as well as their own business-related information.
At the same time, a small practice can’t always afford to hire a full-time IT employee or team to handle all of the regular network management and security tasks that are necessary. To address this issue, there are managed security and IT companies, such as GCS Consultants, that specialize in handling the technology needs of small businesses.
Many of these managed services cater specifically to medical practices and are thus familiar with the compliance requirements medical practices must meet. Such services often extend beyond just security, too, including network support and IT consulting. They tailor their services to match the specific needs of each practice, meaning the healthcare and office workers are able to focus on giving the best care to their patients.

Medical Practice Growth Platforms

Many healthcare professionals don’t really think about marketing their practice, but to grow any sort of business, it’s important to make sure that people know about them. Medical practice growth platforms like PatientPop are a great option for physicians to build their online presence and streamline their communication with patients.
These companies work behind the scenes to ensure that medical practices show up at the top of search results, social media sites, and more of the most common methods patients use to find a new doctor. They also streamline the process of booking appointments, sending reminders to patients to make sure they arrive on time. After the appointment, they contact the patient again, asking for feedback and distributing those positive reviews across review sites that other potential patients will view as they seek out physicians in their areas. Finally, in order to keep patients coming back, they will send out reminders when it’s time to schedule another appointment.
Essentially, the goal of growth platforms like this is to automate the growth process, requiring as little effort from the healthcare workers as possible. This frees them up to focus on patients without getting caught up in administrative tasks, allowing them to do the job they originally signed up for—caring for their patients.
About the author:Greg Gastrup-epharma-guest bloggerGreg Dastrup is a world traveler and professional writer with a passion for learning new languages. He’s spent most of his career consulting for businesses in North America. You can follow Greg here.

(Originally published July 21, 2016)
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