A Look in the Mirror. How Mature are You?
At what stage of maturity is the Uninsured Services program in your clinic? When you think about it, the answer may be startling.
How much is your work costing you?
It’s a weird question, isn’t it? How much is my work COSTING me?
Shouldn’t work be EARNING money? Well, only if you’re charging for it – and actually collecting.
Many doctors shy away from thinking about charging for uninsured fees because it can feel “too business-like” or “not why you went into medicine.”
However, charging fees for your services is not necessarily about turning a profit. Rather, it often about simply recovering your costs for the services. After all, staff time, paper, ink, postage all cost money – not to mention the value of your time as a physician.
Take, for example, the expense involved in renewing a prescription. The time, resources, and costs for this common request amount to approximately $22 per occurrence – and much more than that if the bill does not get paid and you need to send reminders!
Consider the growing list of services with similar workflows and costs: forms, sick notes, missed appointments, notes for physiotherapy, etc.
If you are not collecting revenue for these services, that equates to thousands of dollars of uncompensated EXPENSES every single month.
Do you know much you are collecting for Uninsured Services each month?
How much are you currently charging in Uninsured Services? Better yet, how much are you actually collecting each month?
It’s startling to hear how many physicians have no idea the answer to these questions. And for those who actually know the answer, it can be equally shocking to hear how little.
Surely, their services are costing them each month.
If only you could generate an extra $2000 per month. For work you are already doing anyway! How much of your rising expenses could that help offset?
What stage of maturity is your Uninsured Services Program?
All doctors and clinics will fit somewhere along this pathway. Some are very self-aware. Others are not.
To be frank, the vast majority of doctors are still in the early “Undeveloped” or “Initial” stages. I know many business-minded physician colleagues who I would have thought were quite experienced in this realm. But upon transparent review, they haven’t even scratched the surface. Uninsured billings are inconsistent and disorganized. They have no way of tracking, let alone collecting.
But not to fret! The key is to recognize your current state of affairs. Then make incremental progress, one step at a time
What do you do now?
It may be daunting to think about where you are now compared to where you want to be. But please do not let that discourage you.
Fortunately, you have trusted allies. Lean on them.
No matter what stage you are at, PatientSERV has the expertise and resources to immediately help you improve maximize your value and efficiency. They can fast-track you and make your journey seamless.
by Dr. Adam Stewart
Dr. Stewart is a Family Physician who is passionate about practice management and efficiencies. He started as a client with PatientSERV in 2021. Seeing the success, and believing in their potential, he took on the role of Physician Advisor at PatientSERV.
This article was originally featured on the OMA’s website as on Online Exclusive on October 6th, 2022. It was updated and reposted here on March 25th, 2022.