Douglas Won, MD, founder and director of Minimally Invasive SpineCARE in Dallas, discusses six steps spine practices can take to improve profits. 1. Assess the practice's service needs. Every practice needs certain services, such as billing and collections. Ask yourself, does that department need to be outsourced? In smaller practices, outsourcing billing and collections to a third party company makes sense. Performing these services in house can be very expensive, but established, larger physician practices should consider keeping billing and collections in-house. "You can oversee and direct each process that your practice needs. No one cares about a practice and how well it performs as much as its physicians," says Dr. Won.
2. Meet your referral sources. Spine surgeons need to actively meet their referral sources. "If no one knows you exist, you can't get more patients," says Dr. Won. Surgeons should introduce themselves to local family practitioners, chiropractors and internists. Share your background, training and plan for patient care.
If referring physicians are comfortable with you they are more likely to send patients to your practice. As specialists, spine surgeons may only see a patient a few times, but referring physicians tend to see patients on a regular basis. They want to know they are sending their patients to the right place.
Spine surgeons can make contact with referring physicians during events such as hospital committee meetings and CME courses. "Face-to-face interaction is one of the best marketing tools at your disposal," says Dr. Won.
3. Direct to consumer marketing. Though you can drive patient volume by increasing the number of referrals, it is important to know that many patients do their own research, rather than relying on physician recommendations. Place advertisements in local newspapers and online. Minimally Invasive SpineCARE also has a website and marketing department.
Keep in mind, what patients say about your practice online is important. It is crucial to have a staff member oversee digital marketing and monitor the practice's online presence. "The power of the key board can easily have an effect on your practice," says Dr. Won.
4. Consider adding ancillary services. Spine goes hand in hand with several different services, including physical therapy and pain management. "As a spine surgeon if you are writing a tremendous amount of referrals to pain management specialists, consider bringing this service line into your practice," says Dr. Won.
Additional services can drive extra revenue to a practice and give surgeons the opportunity to ensure patients receive quality pre- and postoperative care. "Whether you are thinking about adding a product, service or physician specialist, have your practice administrator analyze the potential benefits," says Dr. Won.
5. Evaluate current expenses. One of the first areas of expense to examine is a practice's staff. Practices can either be understaffed or have too many employees. "A lot of physicians make the mistake of understaffing, but this is inefficient and may end up costing more money than overstaffing," says Dr. Won. Evaluate staff size and roles, and compare your practice to national benchmarks. Where do you stand in comparison to other practices?
6. Negotiate supply and equipment costs. Supply costs represent a large opportunity for a practice to trim down its expenses. Compare supply and equipment prices. Negotiate bulk-buy pricing for high volume purchases. "If you are using one specific vendor, you can negotiate better pricing. Ask for discounts, typically you can get up to 10 percent," says Dr. Won.
Surgeons and practice management administrators should combine their efforts to obtain discounts. Each member of a practice should understand cost analysis. Promote the standardization of supplies and equipment. A practice's revenue stands to benefit if physicians are kept informed and see the profit that can be had from adhering to a cost conscious mindset.
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