Being a great physical therapist doesn’t always make a great physical therapy practice – unless you’re managing your practice like a business. There are two sides to every physical therapy practice: the clinical and the business.
In the hustle and bustle of treating and managing every day, there are a handful of things that slip through the cracks. Most often, the things that fall through are on the business side of a practice. However, these aspects of private practice are just as critical to your overall growth and success as your clinical treatment. Here are three common mistakes and what you can do to avoid and overcome!
Mistake #1: Not Measuring KPI’s
KPI’s or key performance indicators, are vital to your success. KPIs are measurements of your business to identify where you are in relation to your baseline metrics and your goals. They tell you if you are on track or if you need to course correct and can help you better forecast where you will be. KPI’s include revenue metrics, collection metrics and marketing metrics. Do you know your:
- Net revenue per visit
- Income per square foot
- Revenue per full time clinician
- Daily sales outstanding
- Denial rate
- Customer acquisition cost
- Referral conversion rate
Click here to see more metrics you should be tracking in your business. If you don’t know the metrics mentioned above, you’re missing key insight into the health of your physical therapy business. Take the time to set benchmarks and track these numbers on a regular basis.
Mistake #2: Not Marketing Directly to Patients
Even if most of your patient referrals come from local physicians, it’s important you market your practice directly to consumers because people of all ages are becoming “choosey” about their healthcare providers. Often, patients are doing research before they go to their physician or skipping their physician altogether to attend physical therapy. If you’re not marketing directly to consumers, they won’t know who you are and won’t visit you for care.
Here are a few tips for marketing directly to patients:
- Engage regularly with your followers on social media so patients get to know you
- Post helpful health and wellness information on your social media to increase your credibility
- Include educational and informative content on your website (including keywords your patients are searching for) to improve your ranking on Google, Bing and Yahoo
Click here to learn how to get more direct access patients.
Mistake #3: Not Providing Continued Coaching to Your Staff
Managing a successful physical therapy practice requires nurturing great employees. This means training doesn’t end after you hire an employee and sending them to CEU classes. Cultivate a positive, collaborative environment and lead your team in the manner you want your practice represented. Your staff is a representation of you, your practice, and heavily impacts your reputation in the community. Engage with all your staff members on a regular basis and keep an open-door policy for questions and teaching opportunities. Schedule regular one-on-ones with them to address any challenges their having and work on improving their skills.
Mistakes happen but being proactive is vital to the prosperity of your physical therapy practice. By identifying weaknesses in your business, you can set aside the time and energy to focus on improving those weaknesses and optimizing your business for the future.
FYZICAL helps private practice owners every day improve business efficiencies and optimize systems and procedures to promote growth and expansion. To learn more about FYZICAL, request more information today.
