How the Medical Billing Landscape Has Changed

Posted on December 16th, 2014

Changes in this Critical Medical Practice Management Component

When the Affordable Care Act went into effect in 2014, medical practice management changed in several ways. One of the most important changes occurred in the area of medical billing services. Now that the dust has settled somewhat, here is some information on how some practices have adjusted to these changes.

Scheduling

Many doctors have found it necessary to alter their schedules so that they can provide their services in the most efficient manner that still brings in the most revenue possible. They are turning to software products that help them carve out enough time to see not just sick patients, but healthy ones as well.

Paying Attention to the Details

Physicians have known for a long time that keeping their health records electronically not only saves a great deal of time, but frees staff members to focus more on other critical aspects of medical practice management. But it has become more important than ever to make sure these records are as accurate as possible.

Those who simply copy and paste information can make serious errors that could create confusion in terms of a patient’s progress. Staff members need to include as many details as they can regarding surgical procedures and diagnoses. By doing so, physicians will be able to streamline their reimbursements so potential revenue does not fall through the cracks.

There are several ways that doctors can substantially improve their medical billing procedures in order to obtain the highest reimbursement rates. As the medical practice management landscape continues to change, the professionals with Synergy MSO can help you adjust as necessary. Whether you practice in Dallas, Fort Worth or anywhere else in the area, give us a call at 214-550-1469 or contact us online to learn more.

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Categories: Medical Billing, Medical Practice Management

Medical Marketing Unique to Your Practice

Posted on August 20th, 2014

Medical Marketing Programs

Name: Synergy MSO
Address: 14860 Montfort Drive Suite 140 LB32, Dallas, TX, 75254, US
Telephone: 214-550-1469

Marketing is an important part of expanding and growing any business, and medical practices are no different. Essentially, the goal of medical marketing programs are to attract new patients while retaining current patients. Marketing your practice is also a component of practice management, with regards to reputation managing. You want potential patients to know that your practice is not only trustworthy but that it’s the place that they want to receive healthcare serv Medical Marketing ices. But, how do you do this?

Start With a Plan

One of the most crucial steps one can take in marketing a medical practice is to start with a plan, but unfortunately, this is often one of the most overlooked steps. Having a solid marketing plan in place before you start a marketing campaign is proven to be more successful than just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. When creating your marketing plan, consider what type of patients you’re trying to attract. Do you have an area of expertise that you’d like to highlight? Do you want your practice to be known for a particular service? By figuring these things out ahead of time, you’re more likely to attract the types of patients you’re looking for.

Partner With a Professional

Because building a successful practice takes time and focus, many physicians turn to consulting services for assistance. This frees up time for physicians so that they can better take care of patients and run their practice. A marketing firm can handle virtually all aspects of a marketing campaign for you, from the initial inception of brand ideas on through to operational reporting and facilities management.

Get Online

How much do you know about blogging and social media? A great deal of marketing these days takes place online because that’s where patients are. Whether someone is looking up information about a specific medical condition or just browsing stories on Facebook, you need to get your practice in front of them. To do this, you’ll need to use a targeted strategy that focuses in on potential patients who are seeking healthcare services. Once again, this is where partnering with a marketing firm can come in handy.

In Dallas, TX, physicians who need a marketing partner that understands healthcare turn to Synergy MSO. Synergy MSO offers a variety of healthcare marketing and management solutions, and its experts can help your practice to be seen by the right potential patients in your specific region, across Texas or the entire country.

To learn more, call 214-550-1469

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Categories: Consulting, Medical Marketing, Medical Practice Management

What to Consider in a New Practice Setup

Posted on July 21st, 2014

The Process of Any New Practice Setup

New Practice Setup So, you’ve finally decided to strike out on your own and open a medical practice of your very own – but now what? Like starting any type of business, there are many considerations involved in the process. In fact, many new businesses fail because the people that are involved failed to take the time necessary to create a solid plan of action. Below are some things to consider for any type of new practice setup:

Organize From the Start

Organization is everything when beginning the process of creating a new medical practice. Find a way that works for you to organize everything from your schedule to paperwork. This may include using a calendar and filing system or it may include drawing up a flowchart of things that need to happen in sequence for your practice to get off the ground. However you choose to do it, just make sure you are able to keep up with all of the information.

Bring in Outside Help

It’s also a good idea to rely on others during a new practice setup. Some physicians and specialists choose to partner with other medical professionals during the process of starting a practice, while others choose to go solo and bring in consultancy firms. There are a number of benefits associated with relying on others, including shared responsibility and the ability to attract new patients or bring along current patients from another practice. Whenever you decide to bring in someone else, be it another medical professional or a consultant, always document any and all agreements.

Your Marketing Plan

Once you’ve got your practice open, you’ll need to have a solid marketing plan. This may include the use of advertising campaigns in your local area or it may include creating press releases to announce your new practice or new things taking place at your practice. Keep in mind that the marketing process can be long, arduous, and complicated, so it’s often best to rely on a medical marketing company to handle this aspect of your practice. A medical marketing company can ensure that your new practice is seen by potential patients in your local area using print and online resources.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of starting a new medical practice, or if you’ve recently gone through a new practice setup and you’re not quite sure whether you’re on the right track, contact Synergy MSO in Dallas, TX. Synergy MSO provides a variety of consulting services for physicians and medical facilities, including financial reviews and, medical billing, and medical practice management.

To contact Synergy MSO, call 214-550-1469.

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Categories: Consulting, Medical Practice Management, New Practice Setup

Financial Review: Are Your Finances in Order?

Posted on June 17th, 2014

Why Financial Awareness is Essential to a Successful Practice

Running a successful medical practice requires a number of things, but one of the most crucial and overlooked aspects of doing so is your practice’s finances. Far too often, medical facilities find themselves so busy with other aspects of running day-to-day operations that fiscal responsibility falls by the wayside, and many practice owners wake up one day to find that the practice has become insolvent. In addition, not conducting any kind of thorough financial review for the medical practice can eventually lead to lessened patient satisfaction. Equipment and supplies that have to be put on hold due to a lack of funds means that patients may not be able to receive the quality of care that they should, and this not only affects their health care, but it also can affect your practice’s reputation.

It’s About More Than Just the Facility

Financial Review What’s also important to realize when considering the finances of your practice is that it’s about more than just the facility itself. While keeping up with things such as supplies, equipment, patient fees, and insurance billing is important, you also need to consider things such as medical malpractice insurance costs, employee pay, compensation plans, and commercial liability insurance. Unfortunately, many physicians and practice managers simply don’t have the time to keep up with all of this information each day, leading to money falling through the cracks.

What Can Be Done?

One of the best ways to remedy the situation is to receive a full financial review from one of our leadership team at Synergy MSO. A financial review is an in-depth look at the ins and outs of your practice’s finances, giving you the chance to see where problem areas might lie or where things could be made more efficient. Our team can offer you insights into all of the finances surrounding your practice, including patient billing, insurance, and supply costs. In many cases, a financial review can help practices that are experiencing financial problems to become more effective at managing money, ultimately allowing them to stay in business and serve patients better.

Financial Review Solutions for Medical Facilities

If you’re concerned about the state of your practice’s finances, Synergy MSO can help. Synergy MSO offers a range of medical practice management solutions, including financial review and medical consulting services, in the Dallas, TX region. Whether you’re unsure of your cash flow or you want to have a more comprehensive view of your medical billing procedures, Synergy MSO can get you headed in the right direction.

To get started and gain peace of mind, contact Synergy MSO at 214-550-1469 today.

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Categories: Consulting, Financial Review, Medical Practice Management

Selling or Merging a Practice and Services?

Posted on May 16th, 2014

Know WHEN and WHY to Sell or Merge Your Practice and Services

With the current economy still unstable and the Affordable Care Act causing panic among some in the medical community, more and more physicians are considering selling or merging their practices and services. While doing this can certainly be beneficial, if it’s not done right, you could end up costing yourself financially and in terms of your reputation as a medical professional. Below are some considerations to keep in mind if you are thinking of selling or merging your practice or services:

Your Reason

First and foremost, you need to think about the actual reason you want to sell or merge. Have you considered all available solutions? Is your reason a financial one that could be solved in some other way? Are you wanting to merge in order to provide better patient care? Determining your reason before making any decisions is crucial to the success of a sale or merger.

Start Planning

Once you’ve determined that a sale or merger is the best course of action, you should begin planning. Planning before taking any type of action can greatly affect your odds of success or failure. This means determining what your strategy will be, even if you don’t have a specific partner in mind or if you do not have a potential buyer lined up. Do you need to get rid of the practice as soon as possible or can you wait? Do you want to merge with a practice that offers a specialty in order to add to your current offerings or are you interested in a similar practice for expansion? During your planning, it would also be a good idea to consult with a member of our medical consulting team for added assistance.

Document Everything

Throughout the process of a sale or merger, you need to document everything. From the first meeting with a potential partner through to the last day that the practice is yours alone, you need to keep records of all decisions, and these records need to be signed and available to all involved parties. Failing to keep accurate records, such as medical billing during the transition, could cause your entire deal to go wrong when you least expect it, so ensure that everything taking place is communicated clearly and agreed upon before taking any action.

Interested in Selling or Merging? Synergy MSO Can Help

As a medical practice management and medical consulting firm in Dallas, TX, Synergy MSO is available to help physicians sell or merge their practice and services. The experienced professionals at Synergy MSO can guide you through each step of the process, making things easy and efficient. With your specific goals in mind, Synergy MSO can help you to craft a strategic plan of action that will give you the best outcome.

To learn more, contact Synergy MSO today at 214-550-1469.

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Categories: Consulting, Medical Billing, Medical Practice Management

Medical Practice Management: Seeking the Right Person for the Job

Posted on April 29th, 2014

Dallas Consultants at Synergy MSO Offer Tips on Medical Practice Management

Providing great health care services all boils down to employing the right people, but what many healthcare facilities overlook is the fact that finding the right people often isn’t enough. Instead, it’s essential to find the right people for the job. What this means is matching up staff members to positions for which they are best suited, not only in experience or education, but also in other factors. Below are some criteria to consider when looking for the right person for the job:

Personality

A staff member’s personality plays a huge role in how patients receive and perceive care. As a result, matching personalities to positions is crucial. For example, a front desk coordinator will likely need to be someone who is outgoing, understanding, patient, and inviting. Even if you come across a candidate for a front desk coordinator position who has years of experience, if they don’t have the right personality, they won’t be the best person for the job. Likewise, if a physician has been educated at the best schools in the country, yet he isn’t able to offer understanding and compassion for patient needs, he will likely not be the best person for the job. Our medical staff recruitment specialists at Synergy MSO are able to help clients put the right people in the right place to keep a practice running smoothly, boost profits and encourage growth.

Communication

Medical Practice Management

Along with personality, communication skills are a must for candidates seeking to join a healthcare facility. Communicating with patients is a critical part of ensuring that excellent care is provided, and this also means everyone at a facility needs to be able and willing to answer patient questions, or at the very least, direct patients to the person who can answer specific questions. Communication among staff members is also important in providing great patient care. If one physician does not understand the facility’s scheduling process and the front desk coordinator does not understand the physician’s schedule, patients will suffer.

Contact Synergy MSO to Learn More About Seeking the Right Person for the Job

If your medical practice is having a hard time finding the right people for the right positions, or if you would like to have an independent partner review your current staffing situation, contact Synergy MSO in Dallas, TX. Synergy MSO offers a wide range of healthcare facility and practice management services, and its experts can ensure that your entire staff is working efficiently and effectively.

To get started on improving the performance of your practice and increasing the level of care you’re offering to patients, call Synergy MSO today at 214-550-1469.

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Categories: Consulting, Medical Practice Management, Staff Recruitment

Geography – What REALLY Matters to a Medical Practice

Posted on February 13th, 2014

Remember that saying in real estate, “location, location, location?” Well, the same principal applies to physicians looking to optimize business through specific geographic placement of their medical practice. Believe it or not, there’s more to it than just looking for the biggest city, the cheapest overhead, or the commute. In fact, many physicians who have multiple locations for their medical practice really need to take note of the significance of strategic development.

Determine Your Prerequisites

Being a customer-dependent business, the most obvious thing to consider when opening a new medical practice facility is to always settle on a location that offers an over-abundant exposure to potential patients.

Additionally, however, there are less obvious factors that need to be addressed and considered, as well:

Practice Image
– What kind of image are you trying to maintain, and is the location complimentary to that?

Competing Practices
– Is there any comparable medical practice within a 5-10 mile radius of the location you desire?

Employee Environment
– Is the area prime for finding potential employees, and what will their commute be like?

Future Growth
– If you anticipate further growth for your medical practice, would the location accommodate expansion?

Juxtaposition to Patients
– Would the medical practice be easily located and visible for local patients?

Safety
– After having done research on the current local crime rate, is this practice location somewhere that employees will feel safe alone in the building or walking to their vehicles?

Zoning
– Are you familiar with the zoning regulations and procedures applicable to the county you are looking to establish your medical practice?

Find out about how a property is zoned by contacting our leadership team.

Weighing Financial Cost

There are quite a number of financial considerations when opening a new medical practice, besides just knowing what you can afford in overhead. Here are just a few:

medical practice location consultant Dallas TX Hidden Expenses
– There are very few business-ready spaces available, so remember to include aspects like renovation, decorating, and IT system upgrades (among others) into the overall cost.

Taxes
– Be aware of tax rates for the area and how to qualify for tax breaks on your medical practice. Also, be sure to research the recent trend in property tax fluctuations.

Government Economic Programs
– Your business location will determine qualification for government economic business programs and incentives.

Understanding laws and regulations imposed on local businesses in a particular region is a fundamental key to the groundbreaking process. Whether you’re looking to expand your medical practice, or you’re just getting started, working with one of our medical consultants to maximize commerce will give you a supplementary advantage in the medical marketplace.

Let us assist you in knowing what is available to your medical practice in 2014. Contact our Dallas medical management consultants at 214-550-1469.

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Categories: Medical Practice Management

3 Key Pitfalls to Avoid in Your Medical Practice

Posted on December 12th, 2013

medical practice management According to Forbes and Bloomberg, studies show that small businesses have a whopping 80% failure rate within the first 18 months of operation. But, what does that mean to your medical practice? It means you may just be treading water and not even know it. Kathryn Moghadas, a practice management consultant with Associated Healthcare Advisors in Fern Park, FL, told Medscape points out that “If you find yourself reading articles on a topic, it’s usually a sign you have an issue that has to be dealt with. I don’t know a single person who would read an article on building a practice unless they needed to build a practice.”

Self-analysis is the key to physicians finding themselves huddled in with that small percentage of successful businesses. The more you are open and aware of the inevitable missteps, mishaps and mistakes that can occur at any given time, the more likely you are to stay out of the proverbial small-business purgatory. So, what are a few of the most common blunders that small business owners – and healthcare business owners – make?

Physicians Face Small Business Challenges

1. Untrained Leadership

To put it in statistical category, about 97% of small business owners fail within their respective practice due to weak, ineffective leadership. But, let’s face it, leadership is not exactly something that can be taught. Most effective leadership qualities are typically innate. The other portion is learned through basic trial and error, and rigorous self-assessment training. Many physicians may face a struggle as they seek to find balance through a “Top Down” style of management. You can’t be everybody’s buddy at all times, yet the dictatorial style of leadership has proven to fail time and time again. Good leadership for your medical practice includes setting a purposeful course for everyone involved, constantly communicating practice goals, and being an open inspiration to the medical team.

2. Lack of Marketing Strategy

Marketing used to be a foreign concept to those with a medical practice. Unfortunately, the days of pinning your business success to properly executed grassroots marketing campaigns have long subsided. It’s imperative that doctors develop a marketing strategy to improve patient traffic and public awareness (thus increasing potential revenue), through developing your own individual brand.

What does all this mean exactly? Here are some solutions:

Make Time to Network, Again

There’s no way around it. Your physician(s) have got to meet and network with patients, prospective patients and other doctors. Employ the “Rule of Three.” Strive to meet three potential referrers per week. Try to avoid your typical medical colleagues. It’s also a good idea to meet with non-physicians on a regular basis, too. The point is to reach out to people who don’t already know about your staff or your medical practice.

Keep Your Brand in the Know

Five: that’s how many times people need to see something before it’s recognized. So, physicians must be sure to get their name out there, wherever potential patients look. That means publications, social media, free-standing office signs, and even mailings to patients and local residents.

Build a Great Website

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Every medical practice must have a good website – one that reflects your expertise and echoes the style of any patient-education materials. It’s also essential that your web address be legible on all print, ad and media materials. And, do your research. Websites are the best avenues for patient communication with your medical staff. Be sure to allow for HIPAA regulations, as well. A well maintained website ensures that you stand apart from others inside your market.

3. Not Asking For Help (When it’s Needed)

Do you envision employing the aid of others as a general sign of weakness? If so, you may want to subscribe to a different philosophy for running your medical practice. According to an article published by CNBC in 2011, author Mike Michalowicz ascribes the greatest mistake of an entrepreneur’s career to believing he/she can do everything all by themselves. Don’t fall into the trap of constructing the shell of a car and assume that it’s just going to run (or that your natural proficiency can make it into a well-oiled machine). The more physicians learn to delegate their time and resources, the less they have to worry (say goodbye to those long days and nights).

One effective way to delegate is by bringing in a medical management consultant, who can oversee areas that you find challenging or time consuming. Consultants typically work on a flat-fee or per-project basis. Experience, geography, and size of practice all factor into the cost. The good news is that a successful healthcare management consultant knows, and will offer, cost effective strategies to meet the specific needs and expectations of the client. And, the typical physician’s ROI (return on investment) is well above the average cost of investment.

Remember, it’s all with the intent of growing your practice and making it successful!

So if you’re worried about falling into the pitfalls of small business ownership, do your homework and seek trusted sources such as the medical office consulting experts at Synergy MSO. We have more than 30 combined years in the healthcare industry and can show you exactly what you need to achieve success for your medical practice.

Contact our Dallas, TX, medical office consulting team at 214-550-1469.

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Categories: Medical Practice Management