Private Practice Mastery: 6 key insights from top industry leaders
Author: Ben Dudley
Date: August 2, 2023
#1
Financing a medical business: Choosing the right lender for medical practices
When you decide to set up a medical practice, you’re not just a healthcare professional anymore; you’re becoming an entrepreneur, wearing multiple hats and navigating both medical and business landscapes.
Ali Joyce
Credabl,
Specialist Loans for Medical Professionals
#2
Optimise your online strategy: Become the referral influencer
Kris Borgraeve
Digital Practice,
Medical Marketing Agency
Your Google ranking for specific terms defines the volume of patients who will make an enquiry, ask for a referral to your practice or change the referral destination. It’s a data-driven approach to becoming a ‘referral-influencer’ someone who can influence the flow of GP referrals and direct enquiries.
Kris Borgraeve stresses the importance of optimising your online presence: You can guide potential patients through their journey, from inquiry to consultation.
That’s why it’s pivotal to understand what patients search for. Once you have defined what keywords people type in to learn about your services, you create high-quality content to attract these visitors through search.
#3
Master the rules when it comes to advertising your medical practice
Gae Nuttall
In a bid to market your private practice, it’s crucial to remain compliant. It’s not just about attracting patients, but doing it right. Gae Nuttall underscores the necessity to remain within legal and ethical boundaries when advertising. Falling foul of advertising regulations can have dire consequences.
From understanding what qualifies as a misleading advertisement to being cautious about testimonials, knowledge in this field can save practices from potential pitfalls.
- AHPRA’s Guidelines for advertising regulated health services
- AHPRA’s Social media guide
- TGA advertising hub
#4
Strategise your medical indemnity
Robyn Landau
Doctors’ Choice, Medical Indemnity Advisers
By considering factors like practice specialty, location, and future plans, practitioners can find an insurance policy tailored to their unique needs.
#5
Propel your financial journey: Choose prosperity over regret
James McLeod
Capital Partners,
Financial Planners
James McLeod explains four possible financial pathways and the key to choosing the right one. Spoiler alert: Pathway 4 is the ideal!
- Pathway 1: You are ignoring symptoms until it becomes a crisis.
- Pathway 2: You’re managing your finances day to day, but without a long-term plan or goal.
- Pathway 3: You’re making decent decisions and have a comfortable life, but you may not be maximising your financial potential.
- Pathway 4: You’re making proactive decisions that secure financial health and enable you to thrive and achieve your financial goals.
Medical practice setup
#6
Build your perfect medical practice
“A successful clinic is more than just medical expertise. It’s about envisioning, planning, and executing a comprehensive strategy.”
Kim Struthers
Perfect Practice,
Healthcare Design and Construction Specialists
Starting a clinic goes beyond medical expertise. Kim Struthers offers a checklist for those looking to set up their practice, emphasising the importance of foresight. From selecting a location to deciding on the design, every decision counts. Here are a few examples of what you should think about:
- Look for a clinic location with on-site parking
- Think about your future growth and make sure your workflow is right. You can’t change that once it’s finished, without a significant cost
- Don’t go for price over quality and make sure materials comply with health standards
- Don’t choose overused brand colours: Stand out from the crowd!
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“Zento is an outstanding practice management and billing service that set up my private practice as a new consultant a few years ago and the whole process couldn’t be easier for me!
Their billing system is simple, quick and transparent and their fees are amongst the lowest. They also help my practice by sending out patient questionnaires, facilitating my CPD and organising social events, just to mention a few!
I highly recommend their services to anyone in the medical field seeking guidance and support in launching a successful private practice or looking to streamline their billing process to save time and money.”
Mahsa Mirkazemi
“I had expanded my private practice and was paying a secretary to do my billing, but was still dealing with the hassle of incorrect bills and phone calls from patients. I decided I needed to take myself out of the equation completely, and found out about Zento from colleagues. Since then it has been smooth sailing, with Zento taking care of all my admin, and quickly and easily dealing with any billing problems. As a result, very little of my time is spent on admin now.”
Brian Morrow, Anaesthetist
“I found billing a nightmare – so much so that it was stopping me from doing private work. I heard that Zento provided a solution, and it revolutionised everything. The setup process was very straightforward, and now, they do all my admin – sending off the bills, checking they’ve been paid, chasing unpaid bills. I’m very happy with the service, and I would definitely recommend them to another anaesthetist.”
Helen Daly, Anaesthetist
“Coming from Europe, I was unfamiliar with the process of billing patients when I set up my private practice in Australia. Zento knew what they were doing when I came on board, and made the preparation of the paperwork a smooth experience. Now, I can tell patients that fees will be dealt with by another party, leaving my relationship with them positive. So many things have been taken off my plate, and if I don’t have to spend time preparing invoices, I’m happy!”
Thomas Ledowski, Anaesthetist
“I avoided private work because I was uncomfortable with gaining informed financial consent and didn’t have the mechanism to be able to charge a gap. I didn’t want to have the ‘money’ conversation with my patients, but when the opportunity to work with a private surgeon arose, I had to figure out a solution. After speaking with Ben, I knew Zento was the right service to fix my problems. Now I spend less than 30 minutes a month on financial admin for my private work, and talking about money with my patients is seldom required.”
Perth-based Anaesthetist
“Since I joined Zento I have been able to focus on what I’m good at which is giving anaesthetics rather than billing, chasing up bad debts, providing quotes. I was terrible at it! Ben’s team has always been very helpful and professional. Service fees have decreased! I’m very happy.”
Leah , Anaesthetist
“Has made my anaesthetic billing a breeze. Quick, reliable, efficient and highly transparent. My only regret is that I didn’t change to Zento years ago.”
Steve, Anaesthetist
“When commencing private practice there was a large learning curve in terms of the various health funds and their differences in terms of billing and rebates. Zento took away all of the stress associated with this so I could focus purely on caring for my patients. In addition, they took responsibility for other key issues such as provider numbers and accreditation at the various hospitals I wanted to work at.”
Nolan McDonnell, Anaesthetist
“They are professional, efficient and take a huge administrative burden off.”
Perth-based anaesthetist
“Zento helps me concentrate on my core job: looking after patients.”
Perth-based anaesthetist
“Huge burden lifted from my shoulders. Zento takes all of the admin load.”
Perth-based anaesthetist
“Since using their service I am consistently impressed by the level of service and attention to detail offered by the Zento team.
Knowing that my administration, reception and PA services are taken care of allows me to focus on my patients, my clinical activities and building up my practice.”
Perth-based cardiologist
“As a new Fellow I had no experience in how a practice is run let alone set up and I wanted to start my own practice. The Zento group have taken my idea and made it a reality. They are available, and thorough. They take time to understand what you need and work with you to achieve those goals realistically and practically. I am especially impressed by how they work hard at facilitating my vision for my practice.”
Perth-based obstetrician and gynaecologist