Technology and health are always changing. Professionals are always looking for ways to improve, and to ensure that their systems are the best they possibly can be. Often, for healthcare professionals, the question remains: how can we increase our outpatient revenue?
To increase outpatient growth, providers should practice a variety of strategies, such as looking a technological advances, having the right service lines, providing price transparency, and ensuring policies are well-known. Healthcare providers should be proactive with making decisions and ensuring that they can build the revenue they need.
As you read, you will learn of a magnitude of strategies to increase outpatient revenue. These tips can help any healthcare provider to ensure they are optimizing their practice.
Why Care about Outpatient Care?
Outpatient care is going to be the cheaper option when going to a healthcare provider. More people are going to want to go an outpatient facility over an inpatient one because they will be able to save a lot more money. Also, many times, people only need an outpatient facility. Staying in a hospital overnight is going to cost a good amount of money, something not everyone has.
Patients will be able to recover at their own homes, which will make them more at ease. Most people would rather be at their own house, eating their own food, sleeping in their own beds.
The revenue from outpatient services is always growing, so it is important to keep up with it and ensure it continues to grow.
Strategies to Increase Outpatient Revenue
With more outpatient visits, comes more revenue from the patients. There are many different areas that need to be discussed as it pertains to creating a strong outpatient service. A few of them are listed below:
- Understand technological advances
- Quality physicians
- Make the hospital aesthetically pleasing
- Provide transparency to patients
- Understand the desire for remote care
Technological Advances in Outpatient Services
Technology is always adapting, especially in healthcare. When it comes to outpatient services, to ensure that there is growth in revenue, being up to date with technology is very important.
If there is a new device that is circling around that guarantees a quicker and safer option for patients, make sure that you have it. For example, many outpatient services can complete a minimally invasive surgery and discharge a patient in the same day. Patients do not need to stay in a hospital bed for days anymore! This type of guarantee can really help bring in new patients, which will ultimately increase revenue.
When it comes to different advances in surgical technology, it is about ensuring the patient is safer and more comfortable. Investing in new technology that will provide this for patients will be a game changer!
Quality of Physicians for Outpatient Services
Physicians need to be efficient and of the highest quality when it comes to your outpatient services. They need to be on the same page when it comes to the goal of the practice. Every order needs to be taken care of, every patient needs to be logged and organized, and everyone needs to be on the same page.
The administration structure and the alignment with physicians will really ensure that there can be positive growth within the company. There should always be transparency between every department, and the physicians should really be strong leaders to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Make the Outpatient Facility Aesthetically Pleasing
Something as simple as the looks of an office can easily be overlooked. You’d be surprised with how many people decide where they will go based on the images they view on Google.
Ensuring that there is a safe and inviting office for patients to wait in will help ease their mind about visiting your facility. You do not want to have a dark room or office for patients to sit in. Having a lot of natural sunlight, lightly painted walls, and a calmer ambiance will significantly help.
Think about when you would visit the doctor’s office as a kid. The individual rooms were always painted with different designs, animals, or nature scenes. It made it just a bit more acceptable to wait in the room for the doctor. As we grow older, we must also think about how the ambiance in a room can affect our brains.
The flow of the hospital or outpatient facility needs to be efficient and inviting. No one should worry about waiting hours within a room. If you bring a patient into an inviting atmosphere, they will feel more comfortable staying there, and this will ultimately increase your revenue.
Provide Transparency to your Patients in Outpatient Care
There is nothing worse than going to a hospital, getting treatment, and then being sent an extremely high bill months later. Some of the words on the bill are much too medically advanced for you, so you just give up trying to guess, and you pay the bill. Most hospitals and doctors unfortunately do this to patients.
To help increase your revenue, work on being more transparent with patients. If they know exactly what to expect before they are seen by a doctor, or before a procedure is performed, they will potentially revisit your practice if another issue arises. They may also tell their friends about how great and straight-forward your business is.
Everyone deserves to have an honest conversation, especially when it pertains to their health and well-being. Do not confuse patients! If you are clear with them about everything that is going to happen, especially when it comes to the bill, you’ll be surprised with how much more revenue you will bring in in the long run.
Remote Care with Outpatient Services
Within the last few years, the need for remote care has sky rocketed. Many people do not feel safe going into a hospital or outpatient facility unless they absolutely know they need to. This is where telehealth can come in.
If you offer remote services to patients to begin the healthcare process for a patient, you are guaranteeing an increase in revenue. By including this service, you are opening doors for many people who would prefer to speak to a healthcare professional over the phone before entering an office or hospital room.
Be open to changing how things are done, as many aspects of life change as time goes on. To increase revenue of your outpatient practices, ensure you have strong healthcare providers, be flexible with your options, and don’t forget that the patients are #1.
