How Healthcare Professionals Can Vastly Improve Their Healthcare Business

The first thing a healthcare professional needs to do to improve their business is to recognize the fact that they are in business. There are certain professions that, on the surface, seem like they are immune from the crass concerns of common business. Among those professions are the following:

• Religious ministry
• Charity work
• Legal work
• Politics
• Healthcare

All of these professionals have to concern themselves with leasing office space, paying employees, advertising, bookkeeping, and all the other trappings of business. Yet, the people who run these businesses tend not to think of themselves as entrepreneurs. They didn’t major in business and have no business credentials. They often consider themselves as having a higher calling. 

Unfortunately, that “higher calling” does not shield them from the consequences of making poor business decisions. Anyone in business can go out of business. There comes a time when the bank stops taking your calls and collections agencies have placed you on speed dial. This is an unfortunate situation because all of these professionals really do have important things to do. Those important things just have to be done with business considerations in mind. Here are a few of those considerations specifically for healthcare professionals that can affect their bottom line:

Better Test Results

The average person might believe that all lab testing is created equally. As a medical professional, you know how wrong that assumption really is. When testing for cervical cancer, or any other critical disease, you have to use the lab service you can find. Patients will put up with a lot if they like and trust the doctor. But they will not put up with late and unclear lab results when critical health issues are at stake, nor should they.

There are certain times in the healthcare process when tensions are high and stressors are powerful. Waiting on lab results is one of those times. The last thing they want to hear is that it will take a week to 10 days before the results come in. The next thing they don’t want to hear is that the results are inconclusive. They want to be sure that you are sure that you know what you’re talking about. They want the best science in the world working on their behalf. They also want to know that you are not just guessing at what’s wrong with them. So be the kind of doctor that orders the test. Your patients have the right to know for sure.

Better Location

Location is as important in the medical profession as it is for the retail sector. Medical professionals need to enlist the help of real estate experts. You can’t just set up shop in any old strip mall between the dry cleaners and nail salon. People not only have to like and trust you. They also need to like and trust the place where you work. They have enough apprehension without also worrying about whether they are going to be assaulted on the way to their car.

That is not to say that only wealthy people in wealthy neighborhoods deserve good healthcare. It is to say that you should present your clients with the best on-perm location experience regardless of their income. Every healthcare location should be suitable for your own family. If you wouldn’t be a patient at your clinic, no one else should, either.

Safety First

One of the safest things a doctor can do to ensure the health of their patients is to utilize virtual visits when possible. it is not because you don’t want to see them in person. It is to have as few people in a waiting room as possible at any one time. Many prefer to be seen virtually. Accommodating their request is both a matter of good customer service and good medicine. Even though the pandemic is coming to a close, you should still keep some of the precautions in place like pushing the chairs further apart and providing masks for everyone in the waiting room. No one should have to worry about getting sick at the doctor’s office.

Healthcare providers are essential workers. They are also business people whose practice would be greatly improved by putting more attention into better testing, better locations, and even safer offices.