by Dr. Suzanne Berman
Now, more than ever, you understand the importance of filling your patient schedule. Maximizing practice revenue means managing that delicate balance between an overfilled schedule where you can’t accommodate the patients who want to be seen against unfilled appointments which are a visual reminder of lost revenue.
What do you need to optimize your schedule and improve your bottom line? You need a thorough understanding of your patient population, awareness of your regional competitive landscape, data, and appropriate tools.
Understanding your patient population starts with gathering demographic and condition-specific information – but that’s not enough.
Knowing how many newborns you are adding to your patient roster each month, how many ADHD patients you have, and how many patients are suffering from asthma are important for developing appropriate programs and creating schedules with time slots to accommodate these patients. You also need to understand why, how, and when these families want to access your practice.
You must consider the competitive landscape. Does your region have a retail-based clinic on every corner and/or employer-sponsored telehealth services? Does the health system down the street offer urgent care and emergency department walk-in services? Are they advertising these services to your patients? In essence, what is driving families to other healthcare service providers in your community and how can your practice innovate to meet their needs?
Can you offer telehealth visits? Should you implement walk-in hours in the early morning and after school? Can families self-schedule appointments on their computers or smartphones? Have you broadened your provider expertise to manage mental and behavioral health conditions and/or children with special healthcare needs?
In today’s successful practices, data is king (and queen). Understanding trends are important. Do your adolescent patients like morning, after-school, evening, or telehealth appointments? Which of those appointments fill first? Do the majority of your families with young children have two working parents? Would they appreciate the convenience of early morning well visits that take place prior to the start of their workday? Over the past 3 years, how many minutes of sick time have you actually filled on Monday mornings in January?
Successful practices have the ability to run reports, analyze data, ask probing questions, and then innovate to adapt to their ever-changing environment.
The aforementioned elements are key to developing an understanding of where you are and where you need to go. However, implementing and maintaining changes requires appropriate tools.
Can your staff easily identify patients who are due for well visits according to Bright Futures guidelines (even in those under age three)? Can you contact them via text or portal message, if you notice your sick slots aren’t filling up?
We can’t predict when the flu/illness season will hit, or how severe it will be, but being agile and having the tools to quickly adjust and engage families is crucial. You can fill in those empty sick slots with well visits and asthma/ADHD rechecks easily – if you have the appropriate tools.
How do you not only identify patients who will need a school physical according to your state requirements but also reach out to them months before the deadline to proactively bring them in for a visit? This work should be done on an ongoing basis as you and your practice team walk the tightrope between filled appointments and adequate access.
There is no better time than now, to get your practice positioned to maximize scheduling.
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