As a healthcare professional, your main job is to ensure that you are assisting your patients to achieve optimal health. But, when running your own practice, along with taking care of your patient’s needs, you need to ensure that your practice remains afloat, your staff is paid each month, you have enough medical stock and an efficient relationship with medical aid- these are just a few imperative tasks to note. Essentially, you need to simultaneously care for patients and run an efficient small business.

But, in reality, not all healthcare professionals who own practices initially set out to run small businesses, or are even interested in the business side of their practice. But, in order to keep reaching out and caring for more people, you need to keep your practice afloat.

So, we’ve rounded up 3 tips to on how to run your practice successfully as a small business.

Know your business expenses and costs

Ensure that you are well acquainted with all the business costs and expenses. Make a list of all the costs, such as buying equipment, setting up new software or an expansion to your practice. Make a list of monthly expenses which might include: salaries, overhead costs, software service, medical supplies and office supplies, just to name a few.

By consistently tracking the practice’s current financial status, you are better able to project how much money you would like coming into the practice, say, in a years’ time. This process will also help you determine if you require outside finance.

Remember that your patients are your customers

Keeping your customers happy by making their lives easier and providing a top quality service should be top of mind. Therefore, It may be difficult to view patients as customers. But, it is important to treat patients as paying customers, because at the end of the day in order to provide them with the correct medical supplies/ equipment and a room to consult, you need to buy those supplies and pay for the space.

Another important factor to note is that when thinking of patients as paying customers, you need to ensure that claiming back from medical aid is a smooth process; for instance at Healthbridge, through our Fully Processed Claiming service, we help doctors know immediately what will be paid for by medical aids, this is convenient to know especially before the patient leaves the doctors rooms.

Embrace technology

Adopt technology into your practice. Technology can allow you to streamline your admin process, therefore saving you resources and helping you become more efficient. You can adopt technology which: helps you schedule in appointments ahead of time, keep an electronic health record system (EHR) or claim back from medical aid efficiently. Technology can help act as your trusted business partner; helping you be more resourceful, profitable and effective overall.

Conclusion

Your number one mission as a healthcare professional is to provide care and healing to those in need. But as a practice owner, you immediately become a business owner, which might not be the easiest transition. But, like any business, there are best practices which are known to help create thriving small businesses. So, keep your eye on expenses, view your patients as customers and embrace technology to be your trusted business partner, and in no time you will be reaping the rewards of small business success!

Look out for How To Run Your Practice Like A Small Business: Part 2, coming soon!