Guide to Surviving & Thriving in Private Practice

As a primary care practitioner in an independent setting, you hold the keys to providing quality healthcare, shaping patient experiences, and achieving professional fulfillment. You can chart your course and make decisions directly impacting your patient's health and well-being. It's an incredible journey filled with opportunities to make a real difference.

Yet, much like a skilled hiker navigating a rugged mountain trail, you know that the path is filled with twists, turns, and unique obstacles. Your choices can either lead you to the summit of success or leave you lost in the wilderness. So, each step you take is crucial.

Let's delve into the factors that contribute toward the success of your practice and explore strategies that empower it to thrive.

Factors that Contribute to the Success of Your Private Practice

1. Adaptability

The healthcare world never sits still. It's like a constantly changing puzzle. Swiftly adapting to these shifts and staying ahead of emerging trends isn't just important; it's the key to surviving and thriving in this dynamic landscape.

What's encouraging is that private practices have a unique advantage in making rapid changes compared to other providers. Unlike large corporate practices weighed down by layers of bureaucracy, private practitioners can swiftly pivot when faced with new challenges.

Take the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance. Private practices that seamlessly transitioned to telehealth services proved their agility. They were able to provide uninterrupted care while keeping patients and staff safe.

Similarly, the ever-changing terrain of payment models and insurance rules demands flexibility. But if you can adjust your approach to align with the latest payment trends, your practice stays financially secure. It's about staying nimble and innovative in a world that never stands still.

2. Innovative Thinking

As the healthcare sector evolves, finding creative solutions and continuously improving is imperative. The responsibilities on your shoulders are myriad: maintaining regulatory compliance, delivering optimal patient care, safeguarding against data breaches, navigating complex payer contracts... the list goes on.

Adhering rigidly to traditional methods impedes your practice's growth and places an overwhelming burden on both physicians and staff. Thriving becomes a distant goal, and merely staying afloat becomes a constant struggle. This is where innovative thinking emerges as your beacon of hope.

Creative thinking is the fuel that drives your practice toward success, enabling you to:

• Stand out from competitors by offering unique services and approaches
• Optimize operations, saving time and resources with modern software and technology adoption, such as telehealth and AI-powered scheduling systems
• Elevate patient experience through personalized treatment plans, online portals, and streamlined task automation
• Amplify your practice's visibility and reputation with creative marketing strategies like social media campaigns and influencer collaborations

3. Physician Satisfaction

Physician satisfaction is undeniably a linchpin in the success of private practices.

While the traditional Triple Aim framework emphasizes enhancing the patient experience, improving population health, and reducing costs, it often overlooks the critical challenges physicians and healthcare workforce members face. This oversight can lead to physician burnout, resulting not only in lower patient satisfaction and compromised health outcomes but also the potential for increased costs due to inefficient resource management.

Aligning with the Quadruple Aim framework, which encompasses enhancing patient experience, improving population health, reducing costs, and supporting physician well-being, is essential. When our doctors and nurses are content and engaged, it sets off a chain reaction: patient satisfaction rises, health outcomes improve, and we become more efficient in resource utilization, ultimately lowering costs for everyone involved.

Strategies that Propel Your Private Practice Toward Thriving

As a private practice physician, fostering adaptability and honing critical thinking skills while prioritizing staff satisfaction is your foundation for success. However, equally essential is adopting effective strategies that provide the necessary fuel to propel your practice forward.

Let's look into the key strategies that will drive your practice forward.

Diverse Payor Mix

The financial health of a medical practice hinges on numerous factors, and among these, the payor mix is pivotal. Payer mix refers to the proportion of patients in a medical practice covered by various healthcare payers, such as private insurance, government programs (e.g., Medicare and Medicaid), and self-pay patients.

A favorable payer mix can significantly benefit a private medical practice by ensuring financial stability and growth. Over-reliance on a few dominant payors can be highly risky for private practices. These payors often enforce non-negotiable lower fee schedules and impose burdensome pre-authorization and pre-payment audits.

Maintaining a balanced payer mix, including government programs, private insurers, and self-pay patients, ensures the practice thrives and adapts to changing healthcare landscapes.

Prioritize Value-Based Care

According to McKinsey research, physicians treating patients in the value-based care landscape may see their patient load double in the next five years, with an estimated annual growth of around 15 percent. This shift is substantiated by recent data showing an increasing number of patients aligned with primary care providers in value-based care arrangements, delivering superior outcomes compared to fee-for-service models.

Here's how you can prioritize value-based care in your private practice:

• Quality Metrics — Define and track key quality metrics relevant to your specialty. Monitor your performance and continuously work on improving patient outcomes.
• Patient-Centered Care — Implement patient-centered care approaches, such as shared decision-making and care plans tailored to individual patient needs and preferences.
• Technology Adoption — Invest in healthcare technology, such as electronic health records (EHRs) and telehealth solutions, to support value-based care delivery and data management.
• Team Collaboration — Encourage collaboration among healthcare team members, including nurses, pharmacists, and social workers, to provide comprehensive and coordinated care.
• Patient Education — Educate your patients about the benefits of value-based care, including preventive services and active participation in their healthcare decisions.
• Partnerships — Explore partnerships with accountable care organizations (ACOs), payers, and other healthcare entities that share a commitment to value-based care.

Embrace Technology

In today's rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, integrating technology is no longer a choice but a necessity for private medical practices looking to thrive. Embracing technology can transform every aspect of your practice, from patient care and administrative efficiency to financial stability and competitive advantage.

Here's how technology can comprehensively reshape your practice:

• Efficient Patient Care with EHR — EHR streamlines administrative tasks, reduces paperwork, and bolsters patient data accuracy, empowering your healthcare team to devote more time to patient care.
• Enhanced Revenue Management with RCM — RCM software automates billing, coding, and claims processing, significantly reducing billing errors and payment delays.
• AI-Driven Insights — Artificial Intelligence (AI) helps identify trends, forecast disease progression, and provide personalized treatment recommendations, culminating in improved patient care and heightened satisfaction.
• Telemedicine and Remote Monitoring — You can expand your reach and offer convenient care options, attracting new patients and boosting patient retention.
• Patient Engagement Tools — Empowers patients with features like convenient appointment scheduling, seamless access to medical records, and the timely receipt of vital health information.
• Data Security and Compliance — Bolsters data security and privacy while assisting your practice in adhering to the stringent and rigorous HIPAA regulations.

Take Control of Your Private Practice

Running a private practice isn't a walk in the park. But it grants you the autonomy to drive positive change in healthcare delivery. You don't have to navigate a maze of committee approvals to do what's best for your patients. Nevertheless, it's crucial to cultivate the qualities essential for leadership in this field and employ effective strategies to ensure the smooth operation of your practice.

At Glenwood, we've been instrumental in helping numerous private practices succeed and thrive. Our cutting-edge technology, GlaceEMR and GlaceRCM has enabled practices to tackle administrative challenges efficiently, optimize revenue cycle management, and significantly boost their bottom line. Contact us today to explore how our advanced technology solutions can empower your practice to thrive in the ever-evolving healthcare landscape. Your patients deserve the best; we're here to help you deliver it.