Author: Dana Jacoby

Over the last few years, medical practices have faced unique challenges, from lack of equipment to staffing issues to having to reassess triage protocol, just to name a few. One of the more interesting challenges medical practices faced, however, was how to deal with abnormal finances in a world that changed quickly, sometimes even from day to day. Vector Medical Group has decades of experience with healthcare consulting and understands the details of medical practice financing inside and out. We are here to help you with your healthcare business’s operations, and that includes helping you perfect the financial planning for your medical practice.

Related: How Your Practice Can Benefit From Strategic Planning

Here are a few questions you might be asking yourself when thinking about setting financial goals for your practice in 2022.

How Can My Practice Generate Revenue Without Government Assistance Through PPP?

While there is no question that the recent availability of government assistance through PPP programs has helped many practices financially, your practice’s revenues should be predicated on consistent financial performance vs. PPP.
PPP was designed to be a one-time payout to assist businesses with expenses during the onset of COVID-19. What you will want to do now is assess your practice’s core metrics realistically, then put together a strong 3-5 year financial plan. Start by implementing key performance indicators, or KPIs, not just for your practice’s finance, but also for its culture, operations, and clinic as well, so that your practice will fare well both short-term and long-term. Establishing clear and achievable shared goals for your practice in culture and operations will help motivate your team to focus on what matters most to your core business, building out a robust foundation upon which your practice can rely in financially tough times.

As our expert healthcare advisors will tell you, setting effective financial goals for your practice involves more than just crunching numbers. The best way to generate sound, consistent practice revenues is to:

  1. Develop strong practice leadership
  2. Make strategic planning a priority
  3. Build out the right ancillary revenue streams to support strong future revenues
  4. Shore up your core business
  5. Hone patient satisfaction

We can help you optimize your practice for any one of these steps. Keep each part of your practice revenue plan in mind when setting your practice’s financial goals. If you do, you’ll have built a solid foundation that you can use to build up your practice responsibly when it is time to expand.

What Will Reimbursement Cuts Mean To Our Practice?

Adjusting to reimbursement cuts will be tough unless your practice has streamlined its workflow and optimized operations for efficiency. The good news is that you can start auditing your internal processes now before reimbursement cuts take effect. If your practice can prepare for such cuts today, it will be easier to weather rainy days in the future. Often, reimbursement cuts take new practices by surprise.

What it comes down to is this: The practices that survive and thrive during reimbursement cuts are those which have streamlined workflows and operations, a strong leadership, and a thoughtful, strategic plan for how to move forward. Vector Medical Group offers much in the way of strategic planning consulting, and our Physician Training Programs are a great way to get your staff into fighting shape before reimbursement cuts take effect.

Should We Consider Cash-Only Concierge Services?

Cash-only concierge services can pose unique problems for your practice, even though it might not seem that way. While cash-only or boutique concierge services can present your practice with great opportunities, there are many state regulations to keep in mind, and you want to make sure that these services make sense for your practice. Depending on what you’d like to offer, and which regulations you need to comply with, Vector Medical Group can help you understand your options for cash-only concierge services, and together, you can decide if this route is right for you and your practice.

Should We Add Ancillary Streams of Revenue, and If So, Which Ones?

While adding ancillary streams of revenue sounds like a promising concept, your practice may not be prepared to offer additional services. Much like with concierge service lines, the best way to approach ancillary streams of revenue is to consult with healthcare advisors. Any of our experienced medical consultants at Vector Medical Group can help to talk through the pros and cons of the services you’re hoping to add to your practice with them. Strategic planning sessions like these can also help you understand and address any applicable state regulations regarding the ancillary streams of revenue you hope to add to your practice. Our experts want to help you plan for your practice’s future in a smart and actionable way.

If you need help answering these financial questions for your practice, we can help. At Vector Medical Group, our passion is sharing our decades of experience working as advisors in healthcare with practices of all sizes and specialties. Take our 8 minute survey to let us know how Vector Medical Group can help you make the most of your practice.