6 Tips for Improving Practice Efficiency and Patient Satisfaction

When this practice's initial success began to fade, the physicians and staff had to rethink “business as usual.

Seven years ago, my husband and I moved from the coast of Virginia to a small town in North Carolina to hang out our shingle and dive into the business of medicine. We selected a growing, rural town that was close to urban areas but still deeply underserved by physicians. Within a month, both of us were averaging 17 new patients daily, and we were developing a good reputation among the residents. The practice prospered.

The next few years were busy but rewarding. We added two physicians and opened a satellite office in a neighboring community 10 miles east of town. But as our town grew, the local hospital recruited more and more physicians. Within a few years, the area was no longer underserved. Our practice was successful, but the profit margin grew narrower. Overhead expenses increased while reimbursement stagnated or even declined. We realized that our previous attitude toward patient retention (i.e., “build it and they will come”) would not keep us in business if these trends continued. It was time to refocus on two critical components for every practice: efficiency and patient satisfaction.