Increase Your Billable Hours With the Help of Private Practice Software

There are many reasons why therapists seek to have more billable hours. If you are a practice owner, more billable hours means fully covered expenses and overheads, giving you room to experiment with marketing, invest in new equipment, and more.

Whether you are a solo practitioner or a practice manager, there are many non-billable tasks that you are faced with. While most of them, such as running compliance reports, are unavoidable, they can be automated and optimised to take up far less of your valuable time.

What can you do?

If you find that the time you spend on paperwork outweighs that spent on patient visits, you might need to rethink your business operations.

One way you may think of to change the dynamic is to simply book more appointments by extending your available hours and scheduling them back-to-back. This way, you will end up with more billable hours compared to what you spend on paperwork. However, while this might work in the short term, it will likely cause burnout and lower service quality in the long run.

A much better option is to decrease the number of hours spent on day-to-day tasks that can be automated or simplified. To do so, you will need to find the right medical management software.

Which tasks can you optimise using a practice management system?

Every practice is unique, so you are sure to have particular tasks that are not included in the list below. However, there are things that all practices certainly have in common, the completion of which you can take to the next level:

1. Billing, financial reporting and payroll calculations

Whether or not you do your billing and payrolls internally or outsource the job, you will thank yourself for having a system that structures all your financial operations. Having a software solution for important money-related tasks prevents errors and delays, and makes sure everything is done on time.

2. Appointment scheduling

Receptionists might not be treating patients, but they are just as important as anybody else working in the clinic. They are the ones who make first contact, pitch your services, and set the tone for the patient experience going forwards. It makes a massive difference to your receptionists’ job satisfaction and productivity when they have a user-friendly scheduling program. That’s not to mention how efficient it is to have a tool where they can see all current appointments with colour-coded time slots for on-the-go analysis. Any scheduling software worth its salt comes with automated appointment confirmations and reminders.

With a solution in your practice that offloads some of the tasks from your admin team, they will be able to do their job more quickly and easily. In the end, you will have a much greater capacity to process incoming requests from existing and prospective patients. This will eventually lead to more appointments, additional services being rendered, and, ultimately, higher revenues for your practice.

Medesk schedule and appointment reminders

3. Online booking

Another way to optimise the work of your receptionists is by offering direct online booking on your clinic website. Patients find it incredibly convenient to book appointments online, and it makes sure your receptionists can process incoming requests correctly and on time.

Additionally, online booking software usually offers a way to analyse your patient acquisition channels. This data can then be used in planning marketing budgets and your overall business strategy.

Medesk online booking software

4. Telemedicine

Telemedicine is a relatively new concept that many practices are not rushing to properly integrate into their daily operations. This is despite the fact that it has helped many patients get much-needed help during the coronavirus pandemic, so the general public is now much more confident in attending virtual checkups now.

Telemedicine can help increase your number of billable hours considerably. It is perfect for remote patients, busy people with tight schedules, or those who simply do not wish to commute for a short doctor’s visit. By implementing telemedicine in your practice, you can tap into a new market that would otherwise not be available to you.

Telemedicine in Medesk

5. Consultation notes templates

Templates for consultation notes save the doctor's time and make sure they focus on the person in front of them. If templates are smart and customisable, they have a direct positive impact on the duration and effectiveness of appointments. With no delays and happy patients, it is only a matter of time before your doctors’ schedules will start to get busier, thus generating more revenue for the practice.

6. Reporting and analytics

Today, we have more data available to us than ever before. So if you are looking at improving your business position, there is no need to play the guessing game. You can learn exactly what is going on in your practice by looking at reports. Good clinic management software will include automated and customisable reports that run instantaneously and can be presented in easy-to-understand dashboards.

With automated and straightforward reports, you can run the numbers whenever you want without having to hire external consultants. It means you’ll need less time to catch trends, make decisions, and take action.

Regardless of the strategy you choose to increase the number of billable hours in your practice, the right practice management solution will make it much easier to reach your targets.