Just like your patient's vitals provide you with metrics for treatment plans, financial reports provide you with metrics on the "health" of your practice.
Most physicians readily admit that classes on how to run a successful medical practice was not part of the curriculum in medical school. However, successful practitioners stress the importance of learning about the business end of health care.
While you might hire a practice administrator or an office manager to put together a reporting structure, it is especially important for you to learn how to understand the basics.
Without understanding information from financial reports, you might be missing key metrics that can lead to bad business decisions and result in the closing of your practice, noted Nick Fabrizio, PhD, principal consultant at MGMA Health Care Consulting Group.
According to Fabrizio, financial reports provide key data points that can red flag potential financial problems. In addition, these reports can also shed light on areas to help grow your practice. While "financial reporting," might not have been a class at your medical school, experts say you need to at least become familiar with understanding some of the basic reports.
Here are seven to track.