Medical practice management, in a way, is not a great deal different from managing any other type of business. There are the administrative responsibilities which can include mountains of paperwork, as well as the responsibility of collecting money from patients and maintaining good relationships with employees. Unfortunately, the failure rate of small businesses is staggeringly high – as much as 80 percent by some estimates. How can you avoid some of the traps that ensnare other companies across a wide range of industries? Here are just some of the more common ones.

Poor Leadership

Success or failure starts at the top – and it is a harsh reality that many medical practices fail due to a failure in leadership. While you cannot be everyone’s pal, research also shows that a dictatorial approach fails time and time again. Effective leadership means communicating the goals of your practice, being an inspiration to your employees, and making sure everyone on your team knows their role and their purpose.

Lack of Medical Practice Management Marketing

One of the basic tenets of any successful business is effective marketing. This should be one of your top priorities when it comes to medical practice management. You need to develop a strong plan that will not only increase awareness of your practice and increase patient traffic. Take the time to network with prospective patients as well as others who may not be aware of your practice. Build an attractive, easy-to-navigate website that offers helpful content.

Get Help When Needed

You should never look at getting help as a sign of weakness. One of the biggest mistakes physicians make is trying to do everything on their own. Please do not fall into this trap. A professional consultant can make life a great deal easier for you, and can also offer effective strategies to help your practice thrive.

If you would like to learn more about how we can help with your medical practice management, contact Synergy MSO online or call 214-550-1469.

Medical practice marketing is an essential part of growth and success. What many doctors fail to realize, however, is that they can use their current base of patients to help demonstrate the value of their services. As a matter of fact, your current patients could be the most powerful marketing tool you have. Here are some tips on how to make the most of it.

Service is Key

One of the best medical practice marketing tips there is involves making your loyal patients the centerpiece of your efforts. When you treat them right, they will very likely be more than happy to recommend your practice to family members, friends and co-workers.

Educating your patients on the other types of services you provide will help them make a better informed recommendation. For example, if they do not know that you welcome children, they may not know to tell others to bring their children to you instead of someone else.

There are several tools you can use to make sure everyone who comes into your office is aware of all the services you offer. Signs, table tents and possibly even a banner in your waiting room could get the message across, as could patient handouts and even refrigerator magnets.

Use a Personal Touch in Your Medical Practice Marketing

By going the extra mile in your medical practice marketing, you may get results you never would have expected. For example, send “welcome to our practice” letters to new patients telling them how much you appreciate the fact they put their trust in your skills. You could also extend other acts of kindness to your patients, such as sending them a note on their birthday.

Synergy MSO offers wide range of medical marketing services to clients in many different practice areas. If you are looking for ways to grow your business, we can help. Contact us online or call 214-550-1469 to learn more.

Medical practice management can seem to be a never-ending series of challenges. The day-to-day management of a practice can seem overwhelming at times. These are just some of the challenges that practitioners encounter on a regular basis.

Administrative Hassles

Far too many doctors feel they are tethered to their desk too often due to administrative burdens, losing valuable time they could be spending with their patients. This is not only frustrating, of course, it can even have an effect on a physician’s happiness. Most doctors truly enjoy spending time with their patients, and react very negatively to anything that takes them away from doing so.

Whether you are dealing with prior authorizations for procedures and drugs, patient forms or other paperwork and red tape, documentation can be a major problem.

Retaining Staff Members

One of the most challenging aspects of medical practice management is keeping your best employees as happy as possible. Recruiting top talent is hard enough; retaining it can be even harder. If you experience staff turnover on a regular basis, it can create a substantial drain on your revenues and your resources. It can be extremely difficult to provide the rewards necessary to keep staff from feeling underpaid and overworked.

Liability Issues

The Affordable Care Act has created a massive influx of patients for many doctors, potentially increasing the risk of malpractice claims. As a result, some doctors are becoming more defensive in the manner in which they practice medicine, ordering more diagnostic procedures than they really need in order to reduce the chances of litigation.

Synergy MSO could help significantly reduce these and other burdens. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you increase the efficiency of your medical practice management, please contact us online or call 214-550-1469.

A study recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) had some surprising results in regard to hip fracture patients. According to the study, patients 50 years and older who stayed in the hospital less than 10 days after their fracture faced a higher risk of death than those who stayed in the hospital longer.

A Common Problem

Hip fracture injuries are becoming more common among adults who are 65 years of age and older – and expected to become even more common place. More than 250,000 people in this age group were admitted to U.S. hospitals in 2010, according to the article, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that admissions related to hip fractures will only increase as the population ages.

Complications Associated with Short Stays

The Swedish researchers who conducted the study report that increased admissions put even more of a strain on healthcare providers. As a result, patients are often released earlier after suffering a hip fracture. The team analyzed more than 116,000 patients in Sweden who spent time in the hospital between 2006 and 2012 due to a hip fracture. According to the study, patients who stayed in the hospital for five days or less were at twice the risk of dying within 30 days after their discharge.

The team commented on the findings of the study, admitting that there are some limitations to their research. For example, the risk of death from a hip fracture is naturally higher in the early days after the injury occurs. Also, the team said it could not assess the type of care that the patients who died received after they were discharged. In some instances, patients may have not received the proper type of rehabilitation and may have suffered complications as a result.

Whether you agree with the findings or not, the study should at least generate some discussion regarding the benefits and risks of early discharges.

Synergy MSO offers a wide variety of medical practice management services. If you would like to learn how we can help you, contact us online or call us at 214-550-1469.