Your clinic needs as much care as your patients!

Healthcare practices might be in the business of caring for people but the bottom line is they are still businesses and need to be treated as such.

You need to take time out from caring for your patients to care for your healthcare practice/business. If you’re spending all your time treating patients without having first put systems in place you will find things don’t get done properly and opportunities get missed.

Caring for your practice involves the following:

  • Ensuring you have the right support staff in place, who will do their job as expected. In particular, your practice manager – as this person will ensure that everyone else falls in line as well.
  • Documenting your procedures (this task can be delegated) ensures that everyone is on the same page when it comes to your expectations. Having systems in place ensures consistency and reduces the risk of error.
  • Employees Reviews are important as they give the staff the opportunity to raise any ideas or improvements or alternatively allows them to bring up any grievances they might have – Don’t take this the wrong way -this is an opportunity for you to improve the situation.
  • Getting your paperwork in order – new patient paperwork, existing patient paperwork, should all be consistently branded, named and filed, where everyone knows where it is.
  • Marketing – your practice will suffer if you skip this step. You don’t need to fork out a fortune on a marketing consultant. Follow the following steps to get your practice noticed.
    1. Print Advertising can be expensive but if you have a local paper, it won’t be as much. Locals usually read their local paper.
    2. Website – you must have one in today’s online world. Most people google practices rather than go to yellow pages. You must have an online presence with a good home page, an about us page and a contact us page – this is essential.
    3. Facebook Business Page – If you’re not on social media you need to be. If this is not on your radar, have a younger staff member set it up for you. Encourage your patients to engage with the page.
    4. The easiest customer to get is an old one. If they have already experienced the level of service and care they may just need reminding that you are there.
  • Staff meetings are a fantastic opportunity to ideas. Many heads are better than one. You may as well make use of the brain power you have working for you and it makes staff feel valued when you implement ideas they have thought of.
  • Having a positive attitude. This will rub off on your staff and your patients.

Your healthcare practice is your baby and needs the same due attention and care to help it grow and thrive.