Optimize Your Medical Office and Keep Your Practice Running

The economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic are far from selective. With a dramatic drop in patient visits, private medical practices of all sizes and specialties are struggling to keep afloat. That’s why optimizing your medical office for the current healthcare landscape and any changes to come is key to keeping your doors open.

Making improvements now may not necessarily bring revenue back to pre-pandemic levels. However, it puts you in a better position to keep your business running and your losses at a minimum.

The Importance of Improving Your Office

While stay-at-home orders and other restrictions have lifted in many states, people are understandably still reluctant to go out and visit medical offices. Practices across the country report a 60% decrease in patient volume and a 55% decrease in revenue ever since the start of the outbreak. Numbers like that only highlight the importance of offering things like remote visits. 

Lower volume is alarming from a business standpoint, but also in terms of patient well-being. The decrease in patient turnout means that many patients are either canceling or deferring their appointments and procedures.

According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 48% of US adults have “postponed or skipped medical care due to the coronavirus outbreak.” Meanwhile, 11% of those patients have reported worsened conditions as a result.

These figures further reinforce the need to improve and optimize your medical office for the current needs and the eventual rush of patients. Whether you’re being more frugal with your expenses, improving office efficiency, or investing in ways to reach more people, both your practice and your patients benefit from an improved medical office.

4 Steps for an Optimized Office

Most of the challenges that medical offices face today are unique and unprecedented, leaving many of them at the brink of closure. To sustain your business and continue to deliver care to your patients, you must make the necessary adjustments and improvements to the way your practice operates.

1. Strategic staffing

It is more important than ever to deploy your staff when and where they’re needed most. Plus, inefficient staffing can result in unnecessary overhead costs. Is one location consistently more busy on a specific day than another? Adjust and adapt accordingly. 

2. Keeping a stricter schedule

While no one likes working against a clock, breaks and work limits are there for a reason. Imposing stricter scheduling practices is beneficial both to your employees and your practice. Especially in the case of a reduced workforce, it’s crucial your staff are clocking in and out and taking their breaks at the scheduled time. 

3. A more robust ePrescribing system

With plenty of patients still not comfortable leaving their homes, many are also putting off their medications. You can help them stay safe by having an effective and intuitive ePrescription system in place.

4. Secure, reliable Telehealth 

More than a few health experts have touted Telehealth as the key to continued patient care amidst this healthcare crisis. Telehealth isn’t as simple as a conventional video call or Facetime, though. To keep your patients’ information safe, you need a fully HIPAA-compliant Telehealth solution.

Adapt to the New Medical Landscape

In a rapidly evolving healthcare industry, your ability to adapt is the difference between keeping your business afloat and closing your doors. Anything from making adjustments in your business operations to improving your office workflow will help mitigate the ultimate financial blow the pandemic will have on your business.

Although the road ahead is full of uncertainty and challenges, there are still plenty of ways to continue delivering care while keeping your staff employed and your practice in business.