- February 18, 2019
- Posted by: New School
- Category: General
When you are looking at buying a professional practice there are so many different factors to consider that it can get overwhelming. You may find yourself wondering just where to start. In this informational guide we walk you through 5 things you should get in order when you are acquiring your optometry, podiatry, or dental practice.
#1. Clean Up Your Books
Cleaning your books is the process of getting all your accounts in order. When you clean up your books you identify the areas of profitability and where you are loosing money and allows you to restructure your debits and credits. This also helps maintain an efficient accounting system. The sooner you clean your books, the sooner you can focus on growth!
#2. Ensure a Functional Website
A business is only as good as it’s online presence. That’s why it’s so important to consider what an existing practice’s web and online marketing consist of. More often then not you will inherit the online reputation of the practice you are acquiring so it would be prudent of you to do your research beforehand. Is the practice’s website up to date? Are there serious spelling and grammatical errors? Is the site mobile optimized? Often it is a good idea to start fresh and rebuild and make your own tweaks to the site to keep consistent with your new branding.
#3. Purchase Insurance
There are many different types of insurance a practice owner must implement before opening their doors. Some insurance options an owner must look for include: employee health insurance, liability insurance, and so much more. It is very important to ensure you have the correct insurance in place before beginning your practice day to day business. These types of insurance protect yourself and your employees from injury and bodily harm.
#4. Hire Office Staff
A practice’s reputation often times depends on the kindness and responsiveness of office staff. The staff are the main point of contact for most customers at your practice and if there is a dispute with a staff member, this usually results to a loss in business.Hire a staff that is experienced in working within a practice would be a great place to start.
#5. Develop a Billing Process
There needs to be a medical billing system in place before you take on your first patient. Your staff will be responsible of overtaking the billing process, so ensure they are properly trained on all the systems and software. Often times, billing services are shifted to a third party, that way much of the burden and liability are on them. The practice management system also works along side billing to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Want more tips? Check out our blog article “Still Got What It Takes” below: