NP Business Tip: Mid Year Review

We've crossed the midway point for the year and it's time to ask the question... where are you with your goals and projections? This is a great time to pause, take a look at things and make adjustments for the remainder of the year so that you end 2010 meeting your goals. While one should take a global look at their business, here are just three areas you can look at in an afternoon. Problems in these three areas are an indication that you need to take a closer look at your business:

Finances:

For many businesses, this is the first and last place they look when assessing the health of their business, so let's start here. Are you on target to meet you income projections for the year? You should be at least 50% there.

If not take a look at some potential causes. Consider numbers of patients seen, claim denials, collections from patients. Have you and your staff been collecting co-pays, co-insurance, and deductibles?

However, finances is not the only thing your business is about. Let's look at two other indicators.

Self-Care:

Did you have goals for time off this year? Have you met your commitments for taking time off? What about self care commitments? CME? In running a business, it's essential to take time to "sharpen the saw". In other words, you must take the time to care for self, learn and rejuvenate.

Patient visits:

Patient visits are more than just about the finances and deserves to be looked at independently. Have you seen the numbers of patients you anticipated? If not, take a look at your marketing, payer mix. If people are leaving your practice in droves, see if you can figure out why.

Believe it or not, customer service is a large reason people will leave your office. Conducting patient satisfaction surveys are a great way to get feedback. You can use a tool such as Survey Monkey online to get anonymous feedback, or use the "old fashion" paper survey they leave in a box in your office.

Strategic Planning Sessions:

Taking a few hours, or even a day or two for strategic planning now, will help insure that you are on the track to meet your 2010 goals. When doing your strategic planning consider including key personnel such as your partner and key employees.

NPBO™ Action Steps: While all this sounds like a good idea, I challenge you to take the time in the next two weeks to seriously look at where you are in your business, and where your want to be.

© 2010, Barbara C. Phillips, NP. All Rights Reserved.

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