Managing a medical practice is no easy feat. In addition to providing healthcare services, there are a host of administrative tasks to consider, such as healthcare staffing and retention, business strategy, insurance processing, securing financing, staying up-to-date with regulations and technology, and enhancing the patient experience. These factors present an ongoing source of stress and consideration for operations managers and practice managers of medical practices.
This article will examine the four most significant challenges to running a medical office and discuss creative solutions that can help your operations run more efficiently.
Challenge #1: Administrative Issues and Rising Costs
Healthcare is a highly complex industry requiring a specialized team of administrators to run properly. An experienced administrative team can help manage your human resources, finance, operations, marketing, and other critical functions. A team lacking the necessary skills can make or break a practice by forcing medical practitioners to wear different hats to cover administrative gaps.
Communication with internal healthcare staff and patients is one of the most significant costs affecting healthcare administrators. Outdated or legacy telecommunications devices can create bottlenecks that lead to neglected or lost patient documents, causing damage to a practice’s bottom line.
For example, faxing remains a technological staple in many medical offices. However, printing out patient documents and scanning them to get them to the right person can be HIPAA-averse behavior. RingRx offers traditional faxing and a HIPAA-compliant eFax system that allows you to send faxes immediately without the extra steps. This simple change can help you save time and administrative resources, creating a sizable advantage in office productivity.
Challenge #2: Employee Turnover and Hiring
Staff actions are among the biggest threats to HIPAA compliance, with healthcare staff-related mishandling of information creating real trouble for medical offices. Additionally, the health and medical fields have some of the highest turnover rates of any industry, with one in three new hires leaving within the first year.
A high turnover rate can be financially and qualitatively costly, leading to increased staff workloads, accident rates, absenteeism, and patient/staff dissatisfaction.
To address these issues, medical offices should focus on hiring practices from the root while maintaining an active system of hiring and retaining healthcare staff. This multi-tiered approach should focus on improving employees’ quality of life, such as offering increased PTO, higher salaries, bonus potential, and in-office comforts like catered lunches and award recognition.
Tools and technology can also aid in addressing quality-of-life problems at the office. For example, RingRx’s on-call feature can help route calls to the appropriate staff at the proper time, decreasing after-hours calls and keeping your employees’ work-life balance in mind.
Unsatisfied employees are more likely to underperform, impairing the patient experience and harming a medical office’s bottom line, or outright leave. However, with a few changes in workplace culture, it’s possible to significantly lower employee turnover and keep your medical office humming productively.
Challenge #3: Losing track of the patient experience
Patient satisfaction is crucial for any healthcare provider, but it can take time to get it right. Patients want to feel heard and cared for, and their experiences can significantly impact their loyalty to a practice. Neglecting minor aspects of the patient experience, like long wait times, can result in negative feedback and decreased patient retention.
To address this challenge, medical practices can focus on providing a seamless patient experience across all touchpoints. One way to achieve this is by adopting patient-centric technologies such as texting and appointment reminders. By providing a convenient and easy-to-use platform for patients to book appointments and receive reminders, practices can reduce no-shows and increase patient satisfaction.
Another way to improve the patient experience is by creating a welcoming and comfortable waiting room environment. Consider offering amenities like free Wi-Fi, charging stations, and reading materials to keep patients occupied while they wait.
Challenge #4: Failing to keep up with technology
Technology advancements have dramatically changed the healthcare industry, and keeping up with the latest technologies is vital for medical practices to remain competitive. However, many practices need help keeping up with new technology due to cost concerns.
To overcome this challenge, practices can adopt affordable and scalable technologies like RingRx, a HIPAA-compliant phone system. RingRx offers a cost-effective and easy-to-use solution that integrates smoothly with existing systems. Unlike other VOIP services, RingRx is customizable and a la carte, providing only the features that practices need to thrive.
By adopting new technologies like RingRx, practices can streamline operations, reduce costs, and provide better patient care. Embracing technology can help practices stay up-to-date with regulatory requirements and avoid costly violations.
Managing a medical practice can be challenging, but understanding and addressing these four significant challenges can help practices run smoothly and provide better patient care. By focusing on administrative issues, employee turnover, patient experience, and technology adoption, practices can improve operations and thrive in a rapidly changing industry.
If you want a free trial of a more helpful HIPAA-compliant phone system, contact info@ringrx.com or call 1-888-9860 to get started.
