When first opening your own private medical practice, you dream of the day that your business is successful enough to need more resources. Whether it’s hiring more help, expanding an existing office space, or setting up an additional location; expansion looks different for every medical practice. But how do you know when the time has come to branch out? Here are a few tell-tale signs of growth within your practice.
1. Your schedule is more than full. Being busy is a blessing, but your practice can get too busy. Some signs of oversaturation include:
- Constant, jam-packed workdays.
- Patients waiting for months to get an appointment.
- Zero downtime between appointments.
- Turning away new patients.
- Not enough time to dedicate to each of your patient’s needs.
2. You are asking too much of your staff. When your employees feel overloaded and overworked, your business suffers. More importantly, your patients will feel the impact. A practice full of tired, burnt out people is crying for help… specifically help that you can hire!
If this sounds like your office, it might be time to consult with your employees. Ask them what they could use help with or what parts of their job they feel like someone else could take over. After speaking with them and assessing the situation yourself, see if you can write a job description. If there’s enough work there for another employee, then it’s time to start recruiting!
3. Your patients cover a large radius. One of the greatest compliments that you can receive from a patient is their willingness to travel farther for your services. It’s a great sign if you have folks coming from far and wide just to see you. This might also be an opportunity to better serve more people in your community.
Is there a need for a practice like yours in another part of your town or region? Would you be able to better serve some of your patients by opening an additional location? Multiple practices give you the ability to help a broader range of people in your area.
4. You can’t meet your patients’ needs. As doctors, we are often faced with a situation that isn’t exactly in our wheelhouse. While it’s great to refer your patients to other practitioners that you trust, wouldn’t it be fantastic to be able to treat them in-house?
Of course, we can’t all be experts on everything, but you can bring in experts to better serve your client base. With multiple specialties under one roof, you have the opportunity to significantly improve treatment outcomes. Rather than working separately in independent practices, doctors can easily collaborate on the best options for each patient.
Remember, you must constantly try to improve in order to stay relevant in our industry. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re ready to grow, it’s always good to keep your ideas and strategies fresh. To learn about running a successful modern medical practice, pick up a copy of our book, One Patient at a Time.
