Practice Management - Requirements For Success

Many individuals are inspired to become entrepreneurs and control their own work destiny.  They are willing to put in the “sweat equity” to be their own ‘boss’.  Opening and running your own practice and or urgent care is a worthy goal but to be successful, the “devil is in the details”. 

Here are some suggestions on how to select a “value added” practice management program that allows one to run an efficient business.

1. Attractive interface that has “walk-up” usability
2. Designed for end-user not programmer
3. Easy, logical navigation
4. Scheduling module that can be customized 
5. Registration module with scanning of  identification and insurance cards capability
6. Instant eligibility notifications for insurance, deductibles, and co-pay
7. Instant access to past visits and  accounts receivable
8. Fully-integrated Electronic Health Record that interacts with the practice management system to capture all CPT codes, ICD-9-10 diagnosis to easily code and send an accurate bill.
9. Certified Electronic Health Record to be eligible for $44,000 meaningful use funds to defray initial costs.
10. Electronic Health Record that has a full database, scanning capabilities, E-prescribing, and is not “hated” by the end-user.
11. Coding support and billing functions that allow you to 1. Do your own billing 2. Outsource to a billing company 3. Any combination of the above.
12. Gives real-time feedback on AR to allow staff to resubmit claims for reimbursement in a timely manner
13. Management reports
14. 24 hours support
15. The cost of the software is offset in savings in the number of FTE’s (full-time equivalents) to run the practice.

Every practice is different, but being efficient and controlling costs goes a long way toward a positive ROI (return on investment).