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Your medical practice is comparable to a small business. It consists of a select team of skilled professionals who offer their services to a small or medium customer base located within its vicinity. As such, it faces the same challenges most small businesses do, including how to improve their profitability effectively. 

Increasing revenue and improving the bottom line will require you to adopt changes that optimize your medical practice. In the last decade, industry leaders have found success in this endeavor by leveraging technology in their organizations. They took advantage of the surge of technological advancements that focused on improving healthcare as a business. These innovations addressed common pain points in the industry, from medical billing and reimbursement filing to prescription refilling and remote patient care.

If your medical practice has yet to adopt these technological advancements, consider how much you will save in labor and earn in profits when you do. As more clinics and hospitals continue to innovate, you risk losing revenue when you fall behind.

The Impact of Technology on Your Bottom Line

Practice management has evolved to accommodate technological advancements. Now, it's typical to see a medical practice use electronic health records (EHR) and patient portals in their processes. These, along with other innovations, are often marketed as ways to improve the patient experience. But they also play a role in increasing your revenue.

Telemedicine helps increase case volume.

A common obstacle to revenue growth is time-or lack thereof. Physicians can only meet with a certain number of patients a day, before going on rounds or going to their other clinic or hospital. Recently, technology has emerged to address this issue. Telemedicine allows physicians to care for patients remotely. Using HIPAA-compliant technology, patients can meet with their physicians through video conferencing tools. By leveraging this innovation in your medical practice, you can effectively increase case volume. 

Additionally, it opens up the opportunity for consultations outside of the standard office hours. It improves your reputation among patients while increasing revenue.

Appointment reminder software reduces cancellations.

Last-minute cancellations can cause an already small caseload count to decrease. As physicians wait for their patients to arrive, they typically turn away walk-ins. When this happens frequently, your bottom line will suffer.  Utilizing appointment reminder software allows you to remedy this problem. This innovation will remind patients of their appointments through emails, text messages, or phone calls. It also gives them enough time to reschedule or cancel. This, in turn, allows you to pencil in last-minute appointment requests or walk-ins. You may use this technology to implement a fine for last-minute cancellations.

Electronic prescriptions enhance workflow.

An inefficient workflow is a common cause of profit loss. Manual processes take longer to accomplish and are prone to human errors. Adopting technological solutions increases efficiency and improves productivity. If you have an in-house pharmacy, electronic prescriptions can effectively enhance workflow. It results in reduced wait times and the elimination of illegible orders; both give pharmacists more time to counsel patients on their prescriptions. With greater patient satisfaction, retention rates and revenue may rise for your medical practice.  

Patient portals increase patient satisfaction.

Your patients' opinion of your medical practice plays a role in its profitability. When they are dissatisfied with your processes, they will likely look for a different provider. By strengthening patient support, you give them incentives to remain with your medical practice and even advertise it to their family and friends. A patient portal gives them 24/7 access to you and your services. It improves communication between them and their physician, it gives them access to their health information, and it streamlines administrative processes. All of these are essential in the growth and development of your medical practice, especially its long-term profitability.

Gain a Competitive Edge with Technology

Medical practices are still hesitant to adopt and implement tech-driven changes in their system. Part of the reason is the learning curve it entails for staff members, which could cause downtime that's better spent on patient care. However, the benefits of these innovations outweigh the reasons for their adoption. Refusing to utilize these innovations will negatively impact your medical practice in the long term, especially if your competitors are using them.

Give your medical practice the ability to compete in the tech-driven landscape. By steadily incorporating technology into your processes, you can slowly experience their advantages. Adopting such developments one at a time gives your administrative and medical staff ample time to familiarize themselves with their new tools and processes.    

Your medical practice is a business that needs profits to survive in the industry. Adopting the necessary changes is just one of the ways to enhance administrative and medical processes, increase revenue, and improve your bottom line.