Common Private Medical Practice Mistakes You Should Avoid at All Costs 

It’s harder than ever to have a private medical practice. Less than half of physicians worked in private practice in 2020. It’s the first time that number is less than half and it continues to decline.

The pandemic played a role, but there are other factors at work. Increasing competition, administrative costs, and the burden of being a business owner are hard to handle.

Doctors tend to make critical mistakes on the business side of running a medical practice. You don’t have to make those same errors.

Just keep reading to learn what the top private medical practice mistakes are and how you can avoid them.

1. No Plan for Business or Marketing

It’s exciting to open up a new medical practice. Some physicians think that they just need to open their doors and the patients will come.

That’s a great way to burn through your cash quickly. Private medical practice is a business.

Therefore, you need a business plan. You also need to have a marketing plan.

You’ll figure out most aspects of the business in advance. A business plan helps you anticipate issues such as regulatory changes and economic issues.

2. Poor Location Selection

Telemedicine is on the rise, but people expect to be able to see their doctor when they need to. Don’t make it difficult for them by choosing a poor location.

Doctors don’t take into account the space they need now and in the future. They overlook the patient experience.

They don’t think about parking, convenience, or the layout of the clinic. The mistake they make is they look at the price. It’s often not the best fit for them.

3. Wait for Credentialing

One of the key mistakes physicians make is that they wait until the last minute to get credentialed. They don’t realize it can take weeks or months to navigate through the paperwork.

You can’t operate without the credentials, so you start your business in the red. Work with credentialing experts early in the process to get your new medical practice up and running.

4. Poor Financial Management

Cash flow is one of the top challenges for small business owners across all industries. It’s an even bigger challenge for medical practitioners waiting for insurance companies to payout.

You need to stay on top of your financials. Hire people who will help with billing, medical coding, and collections to get paid faster.

Work with financial professionals to lower your tax liability and file the right paperwork for your practice.

Don’t Make These Private Medical Practice Mistakes

It’s more competitive than ever to be in private practice. It’s harder to survive as an independent provider and not get bought out by a big corporation.

You can build a private medical practice that thrives just by avoiding the mistakes in this article. Always have a handle on your finances, have a business plan, and hire the right people.

Your new medical practice will do well in challenging times. For more business and marketing insights, head over to the home page of this site.