This is a question that was posed to us recently, with a GP practice considering whether to bring visiting and permanent specialists and allied health clinicians into their practice.
As with many such queries, there are a number of angles and factors to consider.
Start with a review of your strategic plan.
As the practice owner/directors/decision-makers, a review of your mid to longer-term goals will help you assess, at a high level initially, whether adding other modalities is the right thing for your practice.
Would doing so progress you towards attaining those goals? Would it detract and distract you from the core service you want to concentrate on and be known for?
Particular factors to consider include:
Is your practice currently referring out to the considered modalities in high volume?
Would the modality you’re considering bring knowledge/a speciality that is complementary to the core business of the clinic?
Would it mean you could provide services to patients that they would otherwise need to travel long distances to access or have to wait a long time for?
If you don’t add these specialists to your team, is there a risk that your patients might go elsewhere for those services and end up also seeing other clinicians for those your practice provides?
Could it lead to opportunities for enhanced professional development for your team?
Would it present a threat to any of your existing clinicians and the services they provide?
Would it lead to more internal referrals and collaboration?
What do the potential clinicians you’re considering want from the relationship? Consider things like the services they need, the financial arrangement they would be seeking etc.
The above will have several financial implications, but what about the direct financial considerations, such as what…
Outlay would be needed in terms of equipment and purpose-specific fit-out?
Return on investment could you expect?
Is the opportunity cost - what could the space and resources otherwise be used for and contribute to the practice?
Extra administration expenses would be incurred, including staffing hours and support needed during and outside the session?
Additional consumables would be needed?
It’s likely that such a review will pose questions you need to investigate further.
Much of this more specific information, including financial data and potential workflow implications, can be gathered from your:
Patient management system (PMS);
Accounting software and accountant/bookkeeper; and
Existing clinical and administration team members.
You can also do some informal information gathering from patients and clinicians who work in the modality/s you’re considering.
Following the crowd isn’t necessarily the right approach.
It’s key to note that although other practices might be going down this path, it’s not necessarily the right approach for yours. Whilst we’ve covered a number of factors in this article, there will, of course, be others that are specific to your practice. To help ensure you’ve thought about as many as possible, we suggest taking a step back and considering the possibilities from the perspective of all the different stakeholders – patients, practice owners/directors, existing clinicians, potential incoming clinicians, the administration team, the general community, etc.
If you would like to discuss the specifics of your practice, please Get in touch. Or to see more about how the Augmentum team provides consultancy and management services to healthcare business owners and decision-makers, check out our website www.augmentum.com.au
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