As the cost of operation and administration overheads are increasing profoundly, providing affordable healthcare services is turning into a daunting task. The transparency rule issued by CMS (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) is additionally making it challenging for hospitals and medical practitioners to elevate their revenue.
However, with the right approach and practices, you’ll be able to fulfill your investment cost and improve your profitability. Obviously, there is no one-size-fits-all tactic that you can try and benefit from. You need to understand the requirements of your healthcare services provided, look for areas of improvement, the demand of payers, and much more to implement the right practice. Having said that, below are some ways in which you can improve your healthcare service’s revenue.
- Improve Your Online Presence To Build More Business
According to the Pew Research Center, 72% of patients consult the internet to get information about the healthcare services they are seeking. 62% of patients read doctors’ online reviews before making their final decision. It means that if you do not have a strong online presence, you are losing several potential patients.
It would be best if you improve your online presence using different SEO strategies. You can also create your profile on major review sites, register at online directories, and improve your social media presence. These practices will help the prospects discover you and connect with you. As a result, they will be interested in your services, elevating your revenue.
Additionally, your current customers will also be delighted to find you online. It will ensure they can consult you anytime for health-related (or any other) queries. They can also post reviews about your service and their experience with you, that’ll help you improve your operations and serve new clients.
- Focus On Price Transparency
The new CMS transparency in coverage rule aims to provide customers or payers with complete information related to the pricing of a certain healthcare service or health plan before receiving it. That’s the reason why patients and payers are now looking for hospitals or private clinics providing price transparency in healthcare services.
You can look for digital solutions to comply with the CMS rules and provide accurate, fast, and easy estimates of health plans using historical contract data. It will help customers make wise decisions by comparing the cost with their financial needs, overall improving the customer experience and building trust in your service.
- Keep Your Staff Motivated
Staff employed in healthcare services are often overworked. It is important that they are encouraged from time to time for their selfless hard work and customer service. When they are appreciated regularly, it will inspire them to work hard and use their best skills to serve the patients. It will help handle urgent patient requests such as same-day treatments and lower the chances of appointment missout.
As the atmosphere at hospitals and clinics is often hectic and tense, encouraging your employees every now and then will help manage the staff better, lower the employee turnover rate, and eventually improve customer service. Stating the obvious, healthcare is a service-based business. When the patients are satisfied with their service, they will recommend the same to others. As a result, you will have more leads to improve your revenue.
Tip: Know that if your staff is overworked, it can lead to burnout. Therefore, you must focus on reducing their workload by hiring more staff, particularly physician assistants or nurse practitioners.
- Optimize Your Appointment Scheduling
Due to the hectic life schedules of people, they tend to neglect their health; thus, they require frequent and immediate health checkups. That means they prioritize the service providers that offer fewer waiting periods. By optimizing your appointment schedule, you’ll be able to service these patients and build your brand image.
You can also consider providing virtual visits to fit the schedule of your patients. It will ensure that the health concerns of the patients are addressed without any delay. Likewise, you can hire staff particularly to attend the last-minute appointments and treatments. Doing so will ensure no potential patient gets disappointed in your service, especially due to waiting time. The minor and urgent care services can be handled by the staff, reducing your missed appointment rate as well.
The Bottom Line
Providing affordable yet effective healthcare services is a priority of many healthcare service providers. However, in order to succeed in this path, it is important to improve the profitability of the services. So, give a try to the tips mentioned above and improve the operations as well as revenue of your medical practices.
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