Navigating a Profit in Post-Reform Medicine

Over the month since the election I have heard many complaints about healthcare reform and where healthcare is headed in the very near future.  If you haven’t gathered by reading my posts by now, no matter what my opinion or my vote is/was, I always try to spin things for the positive. Call me a politician or call me optimistic, I have made a career and a company off finding the silver lining.

One of the positives from the state of healthcare reform is the focus on prevention and early detection. This means for the roughly 100,000 U.S. family physicians, there are some great new ways to generate revenue.

Many companies are dedicating resources to bring new generations of early detection devices to the market that can bring physician offices significant income, and help their patients by detecting debilitating diseases long before the clinical symptoms appear to the even the most trained eyes.

One of the most important things you can do on the physicians/office manager side of the equation is recognize that your routine of waiting for patients to become ill and letting them fall in your lap won’t work anymore. Equally important, give the companies that are dedicated to helping make your clinic increase its profitability a chance to show you how it works.

There are devices out there that are inexpensive, portable, and range from completely non-invasive to a minor lab draw that test for sudden death, diabetic ulcers (prior to visual identification), silent heart attack, Cardiac autonomic neuropathy, diabetic autonomic neuropathy, peripheral artery disease, vestibular/balance issues, syncope, allergies, and a myriad of other diseases and health issues.

You have to change your marketing practice to ensure that you are capturing quality referrals from other physicians, business, and your highest quality clients.

And equally as important you have to keep the patients that you have. Amp up your customer service so that you are treating your patients like the important assets that they are. Providing a broader base of testing and treatment in your office can decrease the need to refer to a specialist and often times lose your patient.

Keep your head up, there are practical ways out there to survive and even thrive in the coming years  of healthcare reform rollout.