You’ve heard the old saying, “Time is money.” As the year comes to an end, now is a good time to evaluate your practice and find ways to run it more efficiently. This will translate into a better hourly rate, happier staff, and better care for your patients. 

Below are five tips to consider:

1. Maximize EHR Usage—although designed to save time and paper, electronic health records can be time-consuming to master. Use the slower holiday season to make sure your staff is up to speed on how to utilize all that EHR has to offer. Many programs provide template functions for everyday, repetitive tasks, saving valuable minutes every day.

2. Find or Develop Patient Education Handouts—ingrown toenails, bunions, and diabetic foot care are just a few of the areas that podiatrists deal with multiple times a week or even a day. Printing physical sheets or adding digital ones to your website will enable patients to have written information about their condition to reinforce the instructions they’ve received in the office. This can decrease the number of post-appointment calls your staff has to field.

3. Clarify Payment Policies—pretend you’re a patient and see your waiting area through their eyes. Are there signs posted that clearly state that co-pays are due when services are rendered? Do you offer credit/debit cards or other electronic payment options? Are patients billed for missed appointments? If you could reduce even by 50% the amount of time spent chasing payments, imagine how many hours that would save.

4. Consider a Scribe—hiring a person to input patient data during appointments electronically may seem like an extravagance, but consider the advantages: You get to be fully focused on your patient, which in turn increases their satisfaction with your practice. As a practitioner, you are also free of the task of having to enter notes for every patient after a visit. It’s a cost that could pay for itself many times over.

5. Set SMART Goals for 2024—these are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely goals that you want to happen for your practice, your staff, and yourself. Involve your staff in determining areas that need to be more efficient. Once goals are written down, offer incentives to keep everyone motivated and working together for better practice in the upcoming year.

We can help you avoid billing errors. A Step Above Health Management Systems provides specialized podiatric medical billing services to clients nationwide. Let our firm provide your practice with a plan customized to manage all your billing needs. Please call us at (877) 448-6233 to learn how our solution can save you money and help streamline your billing process.