Management involves allocating resources, organizing the workflow and optimizing tasks to deliver the best product or service to the market in order to generate satisfied customers, repeat customers and brand advocates.
In managing a medical clinic, applying the best business administration practices is essential.
We know that patients are increasingly demanding and the perception of service quality often requires adaptations in the clinics’ business model.
Here at Senior we accompany dozens of medical clinics since their formatting, maturity and evolution.
We realized that clinics that invest in management are more resilient to crises and maintain a more consistent cash flow.
To apply the best management practices to a medical clinic, it is necessary to understand that the clinic manager needs to constantly monitor some indicators.
Indicators are to companies like the vital signs of a human being. They will indicate the health level of your clinic.
In this article we want to focus on 3 fundamental indicators that you should follow in the management of your medical clinic. Come on!
Management of medical clinics – 3 fundamental indicators that you should follow
01 – Patient loyalty rate
We have all heard that it is much cheaper to sell on a recurring basis to those who are already customers of our company.
This is an administrative truth that applies 100% to medical clinics. We know that loyal patients have a longer life cycle within the clinic, generate more revenue over time and advocate for your brand.
There are many clinics that invest a large monthly sum in marketing with actions to attract new patients, however, they dedicate little or no time to the relationship and loyalty of their current patients.
Here at Senior Consulting, we closely follow the American and European markets, so we are able to say that in these more mature markets, spending on marketing and relationship with the base itself is a priority in the annual marketing budget of clinics and hospitals.
Therefore, an excellent indicator that you cannot fail to follow in the management of your medical clinic is the lifetime of patient loyalty.
Basically, this indicator will be able to demonstrate in a practical and objective way the percentage of the total patients in your base who are loyal to your clinic.
Do a historical analysis of your patient base taking the last 3 to 5 years and see what percentage of these have returned to your clinic more than once.
It may seem crude and simplistic, but this macro indicator will already be able to give you a perception of the degree of loyalty of your patients.
It is especially useful for medical clinics that treat patients with conditions that require frequent and recurring visits to their specialist doctor.
02 – Gross billing
The evolution of monthly gross sales is an important indicator in the management of a medical clinic.
Thus, revenue growth associated with a profitability rate indicates whether the health of your clinic is evolving or not.
When this indicator shows a very large variability with peaks and billing valleys during a period of analysis (Ex: annual) it is demonstrated that there are flaws in the financial management of the clinic and that corrective actions need to be taken.
03 – Percentage of conversions x scheduled patients
It’s not enough to get patient appointments. It is necessary to validate how many actually attended the clinic.
Scheduled patient absences are not just a scheduling issue, but fundamentally a cash flow management issue.
If your clinic’s main source of revenue is medical appointments, the impact of conversions is a key indicator.
In medical clinics, this indicator can be broken down into 2 phases:
Number of appointments x attendances
Number of queries performed x converted procedures
The first demonstrates the commercial efficiency of your clinic, as this step requires interaction to schedule appointments.
The second indicates how efficient your clinic is in converting consultation patients into procedure patients. It is especially useful for those specialties where the unfolding of the consultation results in some type of procedure, surgery or recurrent treatment.
Conclusion
Monitoring the management indicators of a medical clinic is essential to maintain the health and longevity of the company.
Remember, a well-run medical clinic is a profitable clinic that delivers good service to its patients.
If you need help organizing your medical clinic, get in touch and talk to one of our consultants.
Senior Consulting