With a quarter of small medical practices eyeing closure, doctors are increasingly looking for ways to boost practice revenue. As we reported previously, 22 percent of practices who completed a recent survey from Physicians Practice stated they added ancillary services in 2012 as a measure to help make ends meet.
Craig Pope, a Missouri-based primary care physician, is one example of a doctor who chose this route as a means of survival. After leaving his group practice of six years to go solo, Pope began adding services including an allergy lab, a pulmonary lab and ultrasound screening, according to Healthcare Finance News.
"We're doing all those services on site, which is not only a great service to the patient, providing good integrated care, but those are all reimbursable services, which from a business model standpoint is vital to the success of our practice," he told HFN, adding that revenue from his ancillary services has exceeded his primary care income.
According to a 2012 article from Medical Economics, Pope is far from alone in his strategy. In 2009, 94 percent of practices surveyed by the American Academy of Family Physicians offered electrocardiography, 92 percent offered skin procedures, 18 percent offered ultrasound imaging and 14 percent offered echocardiography.
However, it's critical to analyze carefully whether a new service will be profitable before adding it, the article noted. In particular, evaluate the costs of adding the service, including time, staffing, training, equipment and space, and compare these numbers against the expected uptake of the service.
In general, the best ancillaries to add are services that you currently refer out, Keith Borgulm, CHBC, a medical practice consultant with Professional Management and Marketing in Santa Rosa, told ME. But it may be appropriate to consider adding other services in a field, such as dermatology, in which your region may be underserved, he added.
To learn more:
- read the article from Healthcare Finance News
- read the article from Medical Economics