Some healthcare practices have cramped waiting rooms, busy-but-not-overwhelmed staff members, and appointment books jammed for weeks ahead. Other, equally qualified providers’ practices struggle just the same in the hopes of maintaining a steady flow of patients. It’s not always about location, it’s often not about credentials, and most times it’s not about clinical ability.
Those who stay busy all year round have figured out the secret to success. They treat it like a business—but not at the expense of patient care.
They Don’t Wait For Patients to Remember Them
Most practices operate on a reactive basis. They wait for patients to call when they need something. Busy practices take a different approach.
They develop systems that keep them top of mind—for good reasons, not obnoxious ones. They send appointment reminders well in advance and they also follow up consistently after certain visits. They’re reminding patients of their annual physicals or preventive screenings before they’ve even thought about making an appointment.
This not only helps boost a schedule but also facilitates earlier detection of issues and better outcomes, all while making it seem as if the practice genuinely wants to keep patients healthy instead of purely waiting for them to come in with issues.
They Make It Easy To Schedule
Somewhat of an obvious factor that nevertheless doesn’t happen across the board is making it easy to schedule with the easiest practice possible.
The easiest one to get into often wins—without regard for distance or price. Busy practices make it easy to schedule and reduce friction. They have multiple outlets for people to book. Their phone systems don’t keep them on hold for fifteen minutes. They respond to message promptly. And, They even have systems in place that facilitate covered cancellations as opposed to wasted gaps in schedules.
They Keep Their Name Top of Mind, Even When Patients Aren’t Actively Seeking Services
The busiest practices know that their services aren’t known by all—nor are all their services—and therefore they find ways to connect with those who might need them but haven’t thought about reaching out yet.
Where some practices have found success through various avenues. For example, pop up ad networks are available as a means to spread awareness when more basic approaches don’t work. What’s important is that word gets out about what’s available and how the practice can help community members.
It’s as simple as making sure that people know what’s out there; even if it doesn’t make sense at first, if it’s consistent, at some point it will stick with people when they’re considering healthcare options.
They Consider Patient Flow Beyond Just Appointments
A full schedule doesn’t equal a busy practice—whereas the best of them consider what it means to get someone on the phone until they walk out the door.
Patient flow is critical. How long people have to wait, check in procedures, and if they need to wait longer before being called due to an emergency situation—the practice should communicate efficiently how it can—but that should be unnecessary.
Employees are trained and prepared for such situations to make sure that things flow as best as possible, keeping them comfortable and engaged but never rushed.
When things run smoothly, they’re able to maintain capacity without breaking a sweat—meaning that the same resources can treat more people when there’s efficiency involved.
They Create Systems That Don’t Rely on Memory
Busy practices thrive on systems—not staff members remembering everything in between. Follow ups happen because something is in place to ensure that they do. Tasks get done because there’s a checklist and protocol to guarantee it.
While this may sound impersonal, it’s quite the opposite—the thought behind systems, automation, and what staff members dedicate their time to best is ensuring that they’re personalizing the human side of healthcare instead while routine tasks get out of the way with an electronic cloud so to speak—or at least, a tangible one with a system that allows everyone else to focus on what matters most versus fluff.
They Invest in Their Team
Staff turnover is detrimental when establishing consistency. Patients notice when familiar faces are gone and new ones must learn patient histories.
Thriving practices treat their team well—not just through competitive pay, although that’s necessary—but in a way that fosters environment sustainability. They invest in training per career path.
They ask their team what’s working and what’s not to improve better operations so people want to stay. Happy employees facilitate better patient experiences, are more engaged, patient, go the extra mile and beyond.
They Don’t Avoid Financial Realities
Quality healthcare costs money to provide—which means that thriving practices have figured out the balance between accessibility and financial viability.
They pay their bills on time. Insurance claims are submitted and followed up. They’re transparent with anticipated costs and clear policies regarding payment are established without deviation from what’s allowed when it comes to receiving treatment and paying later—or not paying at all.
This level of financial integrity means that they can provide better quality machinery, continued education, staff development and everything else that’s necessary for a practice that wants to be great—not just good enough.
They Adapt Instead of Getting Stuck in Their Ways
Practices that fail often do so because they’re stuck in their ways of 1995. Busy practices acknowledge when something isn’t working—and make it happen anyway—for the better of their patients.
This may mean extra hours for those who work; this may mean telehealth opportunities for limited visits; this may even mean dropping unnecessary services that take up too much room instead of focusing what’s actually needed by patients requesting help.
Adjustment isn’t needed for every trend that comes along; sometimes adjustments simply require recognition and initiative of patient needs versus market demand reality gone high speed ahead without thought first for who’s actually seeking help from where first.
They Generate Reputation through Consistency
Finally, the busiest practices understand that reputation is built over time: one patient at a time, one appointment at a time, one phone call at a time, one billing statement at a time. They establish consistency across each touchpoint for good measure.
The patient who walks in Monday at 8am should get the same experience as a patient who walks in Friday at 4pm, or a patient who’s been coming for ten years compared to someone who’s checking in for the first time today with fill out paperwork.
This brings trust. People feel good about referring friends and family because they themselves know what to expect with guaranteed satisfactory outcomes found along the way in all aspects outside treatment as well.
The Bottom Line
People don’t stay busy year-round because they’re lucky or because they have access or great locations, they stay busy because they’re well-oiled machines that make life easier for those across the board with compromise. Those who successfully manage this balance not only survive but thrive, with providers not burnt out beyond expectation levels, staff not consistently stressed out behind-the-scenes and patients satisfied.