While every practice seems to have those employees that can seemingly “do it all,” it is likely there are still holes in the efficiency of your practice, particularly in the areas of information technology, revenue cycle management, and accounting. If you are able to find employees that have the skills demanded in these specialized areas, it is likely they will demand premium salaries. Fortunately, advancements in technology, cloud-based computing in particular, have made it easier than ever to obtain these specialized services on an outsourced basis. Evaluating operations can identify any weaknesses and better assess if outsourcing is a good solution for your practice.
Operational Assessment
Before you can decide if outsourcing is right for your practice, you must first identify the greatest opportunities to increase revenue and decrease costs. An operational assessment, which is a thorough review of all or part of your practice’s operations to identify areas needing improvement, is an important starting point, and can either be done by an outside consultant or internally.
Benchmarking
As part of the assessment, benchmarking, which is utilizing industry data to compare various aspects of your practice to your peers, can be very helpful. For example, via benchmarking, you can determine if you have employed the right number of people in the right areas, and whether you are paying market salaries. You can also see how your practice compares in the areas of provider productivity, revenue cycle, and overhead.
Identify Weaknesses
By evaluating practice operations, including human resources to determine whether your non-physician staff are working at the highest level warranted by their education and experience, in addition to the scope and efficiency of your information systems, you can identify areas of weakness. These can include billing and collections, patient satisfaction and/or access to care, employee satisfaction and/or productivity, compliance, and technology, as well as areas of opportunity, and establishing related goals. Once the goals are identified, you can then consider whether or not outsourcing would be the most effective way to achieve them.
If you would like to assess whether your practice is performing as effectively and efficiently as possible, contact the Anders Health Care Group.
