Have you found yourself in a position where your patient base is dropping along with your profit margins, or perhaps your patient numbers are becoming unbearable, but your profits are not in correlation? More often than not, one of the main reasons for this is ineffective practice management.

A trend I have noticed in recent years is that many Practice Managers seem to have initially started in reception or admin roles, later taking on practice management responsibilities. Such career progression is encouraged of course, however the problem is that even with great potential, they may not have yet gained the adequate experience or knowledge to drive growth and profitability of your clinic. In which case, they could benefit from training and mentoring services from an external professional healthcare consultant.

Remember – your Practice Manager is the glue that keeps the whole operation together and investing in them can drive your entire workforce, which is a strong catalyst for business growth.

So, how can Virtual Practice Management help them reach their potential, your business potential and maximize your profitability at the same time?

Virtual Practice Management?

Virtual Practice Management (VPM) involves outsourcing your practice management services to an experienced healthcare professional, who will create and implement a personalized strategic roadmap for your business. This plan will aim to drive desired business outcomes, scalable growth, optimal efficiency and measurable performance – also ensuring this aligns with your long-term vision, setting you up for innovation and profit well in to the future.

VPM service can include:

• Daily billing support
• Accreditation support
• HR management
• Staff training and mentoring
• IT integration strategies
• Recruitment
• Digital transformation
• Procedures, protocols and operations manual
• Bookkeeping / accounting support
• Ongoing management support, planning and forecasting
• Staff engagement

The key benefits of Virtual Practice Management?

1. Frees up your time to focus on patient care

   The advantage of partnering with an experienced VPM consultant is that they understand the practical aspects of your business, and can reduce your stress by running the day-to-day business operations. It works on your business so that you are free to work in your business.

   With peace of mind that your practice is being managed smoothly and seamlessly, you can focus on where you can add the most value – building lasting loyal relationships with patients and referrers.

2. Improves systems and workflow efficiency

   Many healthcare clinics and medical centers face financial challenges due to inefficient work practices and systems. Over time as staff come and go, processes and systems can unravel into a jumble of disorganized tasks by a team who are too busy to improve them.

   VPM can help solve these operational issues by streamlining practitioner services while creating a 24/7 reception and continuity of management services – meaning no backlog or limited access due to staff turnover or annual leave.

   Another VPM service that can increase workflow efficiency is a KPI platform that allows IT integration between the PMS and the accounting system, which can assist with doctors and staff pays, reconciliation, KPIs, bookkeeping, accounting and importantly forecasting.

3. Drives growth and profitability of your practice

   Well-designed systems and workflows consequently encourage practice growth because when your practice management is being handled in a timely and efficient manner, your GPs and Practice Nurses will be able to concentrate on building your patient base.

   Remember the general rule:

   If you satisfy just one patient, you will have positive word-of-mouth referrals and consequently gain one patient. If you disappoint one patient, you will lose ten.

   Again, your Practice Manager should be working on the business, focusing on building your practice growth and wealth – not in the business. They should not be involved in daily issues that could easily be resolved by administration support staff.

4. Protects your business

   VPM service can help create and develop a bespoke operations manual for you while providing expert advice on risk mitigation strategies to ensure that your intellectual property remains with the business, even if your staff leave. With on-going performance monitoring by an objective third party, it also ensures proper compliance is adhered to further protect the business.

5. Reduces overhead costs

   Attracting, recruiting and retaining skilled managers who can handle the challenge is a challenge in itself. This difficulty can vary from clinic to clinic, and some contributing factors include the size of your practice, geographic location or limited budget

   As a result, you might find yourself struggling without a qualified manager, tolerating an ineffective one, or paying more than you can afford. In this case,

   VPM is practical, affordable alternative to hiring a full-time Practice Manager. VPM can also provide bookkeeping, accounting and payroll services which can be a huge cost (and time) saving.

   The beauty of our service here at Practice Partners is that VPM is completely tailored to make it more cost effective, depending on your needs. If you don’t feel your practice needs on-going support, then you can choose to have only the baseline assessment instead. Sometimes having an external professional offer a different perspective is enough for you to kick-start a prospering practice. The little things can make a huge difference.

6. Increases staff engagement

   When it comes to staff engagement, you get out what you put in, tenfold. The best way to motivate and improve the performance of your Practice Manager is by providing them with the tools they need to do their job better. Do you have a smart, proactive Practice Manager with incredible potential?

   Perhaps they just need a helping hand to really hone in on their business skills.

   In which case, VPM offers mentoring to help identify areas of the business that need improvement, while training the Practice Manager to be able to create effective strategies, policies and procedures to manage the business – not just the day to day running of the practice.

   At a minimum, a Practice Manager should have access to a high performing cloud based accounting system such as Zero, online training portals to continue their education and access to the local Primary Health Networks to be able to keep up to date with any changes within the healthcare industry

   Staff mentoring can be incorporated for all team members, to ensure the role of each individual is clarified, as well as goals and standards to keep them achieving set KPIs. This will empower your whole team and have them thriving at optimum performance levels!

Our process

If you are ready to outsource these critical tasks so that you can spend more time focusing on patient care, an initial appointment with Practice Partners will be scheduled to discuss your current situation and desired outcomes. Next, we undertake a thorough analysis of the business to create a detailed strategic plan that is in line with your vision.

TWhen you have reviewed and approved the strategy, your dedicated VPM consultant will implement the plan, track performance success and provide on-going management support, planning and forecasting.