Managing a successful private practice in New Zealand can be difficult at times, especially when covid is present. Here are some tips on how to run a successful practice in New Zealand utilizing technology.
Dr Lynn Ho owns a solo family practice in America and shares her experience of ensuring a stable long term family practice with the use of technology, namely making her practice partially online. Dr Ho has claimed that technology has “improved patient access, makes her practice run more efficiently, and deal with documentation requirements”. The changes that technology was able to provide to Dr Ho’s office included tools that:
- Allowed patients to fill out their medical history electronically prior to their office visit
- Allowed patients to schedule their appointments online at the tip of their fingertips, including rescheduling and cancelling appointments
- Allowed patients to receive lab and test results back instantly through an email portal, being able to check their records at their convenience
- Provided e-visits. These were quick appointments online for simple issues where patients may not be able to leave their home, are on holiday, or cannot schedule an urgent matter. Patients gained access to a “medical history tool” which “supplied information on their problem”” that they could access anytime once given a diagnosis, recommendation, and treatment options within 4 hours of the e-visit.
Overall, technology has been able to restructure Dr Ho’s family practice to a more practical, optimal and accessible business for everyone, including patients and doctors.
Some other reasons why you may consider making more, if not all your practice online is for reasons such as better bookkeeping, client connection, maintaining staff retention, lowered costs, and flexibility within the practice.
Better bookkeeping
One of the main benefits of managing your practice with technology is for better bookkeeping. Specifically, this entails an easy and accessible form of keeping, editing, sending, and managing all documents online from all ends of the users within your practice. Privacy is also ensured with having an online bookkeeping system as the privacy of confidential documents can be controlled at ease.
Additionally, saving time and the hassle cultivated in looking for documents and files, including reducing the risk of losing important information.
Client connection
Connection is extremely important in such a technology driven world, especially the relationship your practice has with your clients. Maintaining this relationship with your client’s best interest might mean considering the impact an online practice would have on them. As we are still bound to covid restrictions with more and more people threatened by isolation; online meetings and appointments would be extremely beneficial for those that are kept at home. Clients are able to appreciate the diversity of options that your clinic may provide, whether that is making appointments, viewing results or being able to receive treatment online without having to wait for a scheduled appointment in advance, to consider commute or to take crucial time out of the day to make it to the practice.
Maintaining staff retention
Technology can become an outlet at your practice, crucial for staff retention. Work related burnout is a prominent problem that occurs in the workplace often, an issue relating to the paramount people that run the practice. Technology such as online appointment scheduling, billing tools, intake forms are able to delegate heavy workloads amongst everyone that run the practice, overall reducing the administrative burden in the workplace for everyone.
Lowered costs and flexibility
The idea of lowered costs and flexibility work hand in hand when utilizing technology into your practice. Ideally, for those that are thinking of running a practice, having a full online practice means there is no requirement of investing money into an office, waiting rooms and/or a reception area. You may run your practice in the privacy of your own home at any time of day you wish.
However, for those that already have a practice situated at an office, by having technology
incorporated, flexibility is also offered. As mentioned earlier, this can take the shape and form of online appointments, especially setting in more appointments that take shorter time in terms of commute or between clients whilst reducing the clients that reschedule, are late or cancel their appointments. Even when travelling between cities or anywhere but the office.
All in all, the conclusion that should be reached for the reader of this article is how significant it is to consider how technology can be utilized in your practice, whether you are already running one or in the process of wanting to start one, especially a successful once. Fortunately, here at Elite Accounting Limited, we are well versed in the use of technology in a business which we exhibit through our advisory services. If you would like to enquire into these services and what we have to offer in getting your practice off the ground or up and running successfully, then contact either Ravi or Margaret at +64 210 886 9295 or email us at info@eliteaccounting.co.nz.
