Management of a Medical Practice

When I first opened my own office over twenty five years ago the concept of the management of a medical practice was not even in existence, let alone as evolved and complex as it is today. That’s because back in the day providing care for patients was relatively simple. The biggest issue involved was diagnosing the patient and then making sure they were feeling fine. There were no big HMOs, no office technology to keep up to date with, no practices whose numbers were huge and resources unlimited to compete against. I remember at the time I had one receptionist and a typewriter, and that was all that was required for the management of a medical practice.

Today, however, is a different story. Now, not only do I speak from the experience of former medical practitioner but also from a present day medical administrator. I was able to make the switch because luckily I did keep up with the times. I began to see around ten years ago that the management of a medical practice is a whole other job unto itself. It’s time consuming and often very stressful and it’s not conducive to conducting thorough patient examinations by the doctor if he or she has its matters on his or her mind.

When I realized the management of a medical practice was too overwhelming for me to handle I began to search for someone who could take those tasks out of my hands and leave me to my patients. At that time the field of medical administration didn’t even exist, so I wasn’t quite sure who I was looking for.

Regardless, I never found them. I tried out other doctors who didn’t feel like practicing anymore, medical receptionists with years of experience, secretaries with a past in accounting. No one could fully organize all aspects of the office in a manner that I thought was best so I made the decision to take on the task of the management of a medical practice myself. All I had to do was find a doctor who could take over the practice side of things and I’d be fine. Turns out that during that time competent doctors were much easier to find then competent medical administrators.

With my newfound ability to concentrate on the management of a medical practice I was able to create an organized system of bookkeeping, implement an efficient way to run the office, hire the correct type of staff to do the required tasks. Everything consistently ran smoothly and regularly so that every time a new matter came up (e.g. putting all patient files online, dealing with insurance claims, beginning to market the practice to the community) it didn’t create chaos. We now had the time and resources to deal with it effectively.

Through the specialization of the running and management of a medical practice every day became a much pleasanter experience and my business drastically improved. Each person had less pressure to perform so many tasks with a limited amount of focus. They were able to put their concentration solely on the task at hand and therefore each task completed was with careful attention.