Viewpoint: Positioning your practice for good financial health -

Viewpoint: Positioning your practice for good financial health - - ModernMedicine

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Business consultants Christopher Mahan, Virginia Martin, Keith Borglum, and Judith Aburmishan, as well as moderator Lois A. Bowers, participate in a panel discussion convened by Medical Economics at the recent annual meeting of the National Society of Certified Healthcare Business Consultants. (Photo by Len Kaufman)

A healthful diet. Regular exercise. An awareness of family and personal medical history. Annual exams as well as check-ups whenever something doesn't seem right. These are some of the strategies you recommend to your patients to help them stave off illness or improve their health so that their bodies will be able to cope better with illness should it occur. When it comes to your medical practice, however, do you know what steps to take so that it's strong and fit?

"Physicians typically understand the clinical side of their practices. It's infrequent that they understand the business side of their practices," says Medical Economics editorial consultant Virginia Martin, CMA, CPC, CHCO, CHBC.

Maybe that's the reason that business-related issues are some of the biggest challenges with which primary care physicians and other doctors struggle. A survey conducted earlier this year by the Medical Group Management Associ- ation, for instance, found that the top three challenges facing group practices are dealing with increased operating costs, managing finances with the uncertainty of Medicare reimbursement rates, and selecting and implementing an electronic health record system. Even group and solo physicians who feel confident about their grasp on the business side of practicing medicine may find themselves facing new challenges in the ever-changing financial environment.

Martin was one of four experts participating in a panel discussion I moderated at the recent annual meeting of the National Society of Certified Healthcare Business Consultants. In a special section in this issue, we present the advice shared by Martin and fellow panelists Christopher Mahan, CHBC, MBA, ACC, Keith Borglum, CHBC, and Judith Aburmishan MBA, CPA, CHBC, about front office matters, operations, practice valuation, and accounting and finances. Other articles in this issue present additional information to help keep your practice healthy or to get it into shape to better handle the expected as well as the unexpected.

Think of this issue as your continuing wellness visit with Medical Economics. After all, part of our mission is to provide you with the nonclinical education you didn't receive in medical school.

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