By Nick Hernandez bio Bringing in a physician partner has many advantages: A partner may help your practice grow and become more successful; partners allow you to share the workload and to combine skills with another provider; and you can enrich your practice by having a solid teammate. However, business partners can become your greatest asset or your worst liability. … [Read more...] about Evaluating a physician partnership
Managing the office
Upping your game as a medical office manager
Managing an efficient and profitable medical practice depends upon your ability to master a specific set of management skills, implement best practices, and maintain specific identifiable behaviors and attitudes that are proven to drive management and career success. Those skills, best practices, and attitudes are at the heart of successful medical office management and can … [Read more...] about Upping your game as a medical office manager
What are the chief business concerns of independent doctors?
Competing for patients against hospitals and health systems, which have substantial marketing budgets, topped the list of problems independent doctors face, according to a new survey out from the Association of Independent Doctors, a national nonprofit trade association. The pay gap between employed and independent doctors ranked a close second. "A variety of market forces … [Read more...] about What are the chief business concerns of independent doctors?
Austin practice showers staff with appreciation
As a busy practice administrator at Capital Otolaryngology in Austin, TX, Sangita Lakhia has a difficult time keeping track of the "special days" – admin assistants week, nurses day, sleep tech day, surgical tech week, and so forth. "I also felt bad giving a gift or breakfast to just one department and not others," she tells Medical Office Manager. So Lakhia decided to drop … [Read more...] about Austin practice showers staff with appreciation
Anatomy of a Lessons Learned summary
By Cheryl Toth, MBA bio What do you call the CEO of three failed start-up companies? Experienced. Leaders like this are hired time and again because they've made mistakes and learned from them. The lessons they take with them to their next role carry a lot of value. A rite of passage to becoming a great manager is learning to fail in a way that stretches you without … [Read more...] about Anatomy of a Lessons Learned summary
Try these no-cost ways to boost staff morale
To have good employees, an office "has to treat people right," says Sabrina Hebert, manager of Northlake Surgical Associates, a five-physician, 12-staff office in Covington, LA. And her office does that by giving benefits that are a bit out of the ordinary, are well appreciated – and cost little or nothing. The favorite is gift cards. At $0 cost. Herbert buys them with the … [Read more...] about Try these no-cost ways to boost staff morale
Survey: Patients prefer secure texting over patient portal communication from their physicians
Only 10 percent of patients prefer to receive physician communications via patient portals, whereas twice that many (19.6 percent) favor receiving information via secure text messages when in-person and phone calls are not an option. The new survey, conducted by DrFirst, a provider of e-prescribing and patient medication management solutions, also found that more than 90 … [Read more...] about Survey: Patients prefer secure texting over patient portal communication from their physicians
10 rules for getting good press and new patients along with it
To get new business, your medical practice has to be the first place the patient calls. To make the call, the patient has to know your practice's name. To know your practice's name, the patient has to see it over and over in the media. Media coverage is good free marketing, says Pam Lontos, president of Pam Lontos Consulting in Orlando. But to be of any value, it has to be … [Read more...] about 10 rules for getting good press and new patients along with it
Model Project Summary
Why you need this summary: A rite of passage to becoming a great manager is learning to fail in a way that stretches you without breaking you and results in wisdom that improves your resilience and future decision-making. In other words, failure is not necessarily bad. Your ability to grow from the experience, however, depends on your willingness to honestly assess the good, … [Read more...] about Model Project Summary
5 efficiency-draining traps to avoid in your practice
By Karen Mattocks, Vice President of Business Development at RxVantage bio It is a practice manager's worst nightmare. You arrive at work one morning and suddenly realize you no longer have a grip on operational efficiency. Patient wait times are at an all-time high, physicians continue to complain about the electronic health record (EHR), unbilled claims pile up … [Read more...] about 5 efficiency-draining traps to avoid in your practice