Here are my suggestions:
1. Hire a billing/office manager who can apply for your Medicare and other insurance numbers at least 3 months before your intended start time. Keep your billing in-house. No one cares more about your money than you.
2. Hire staff who are already or are willing to cross-train. Billers who can bring patients back and answer the phone, receptionists who can post charges and payments. Preferably older women whose children are grown and out of the house.
3. Treat your employees like they are your business partners...they can make or break you and unhappy employees tend to take it out on your patients who then tend to go elsewhere. Reward your staff when things are good (take trips, buy lunch, give them ball tickets) and accept your share of the blame when things are bad. Let them know you value and encourage their opinions and suggestions...most of the times they are right. Remember how you felt/feel being an employee.
4. In today's market, buy don't rent your office space. I wish I had done this 20 years ago.
5. Do not hire a consultant. The worst decisions we made when I belonged to a large group were at the urging of a consultant...actually led to the eventual break-up of the group.
No one knows better than you how you want to combine your career with your home life. No one knows better than you how much money you need to make and how hard you want to work to make it. You will now have the ability to do that. And, by the way, money isn't everything. You have to be able to live with yourself, deal with your conscience, balance The Golden Rule with fiscal solvency and sleep at night.
Run your office like you would like see your personal doctor's office run. If you are low-keyed and enjoy humor, don't be afraid to reflect that in your decor and office operation. If you are more traditional, keep yourself comfortable by running your office on the straight and narrow.
6. Constantly follow-up....do it yourself. Check insurance reports, AR reports, aging reports, procedure profitability, which patients are falling behind in payments, etc. Pay your bills yourself. This keeps you constantly updated on costs which might be changing too quickly and makes you re-examine every time you make a payment whether that service or product is really necessary. Go online and compare medical suppliers prices for various products. I use Esurge, Moore Medical, Henry Schein a lot. Doing this yourself humbles you and gives you motivation to question an employee's request for a special kind of pen or your habit of using sterile tongue blades.
7. OK, so this ended up being more than 3-4 but lastly, keep your head on your shoulders and your ego in check. There is nothing wrong with being a "small office". There are more and more of us opening up all the time. Don't strive to impress your patients or your peers...it usually ends up costing you more money. Settle for the mundane. Start out with only the bare necessities and add technology only as your practice grows and only if you can definitely conclude it will improve your bottom line or enhance your medicolegal security.
And welcome to our elite group...the Solo Physician. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. And I know you will live a happier and more rewarding life.
Leslie
