Summary: Administrative support is essential for practice transformation in value-based care. An experienced operations team can set your primary care practice up for success by streamlining everything from facilities and equipment to policies and procedures, office management, human resources, recruitment/staffing, credentialing, and succession planning. With thoughtful, thorough strategic planning in operations, your practice can stay sustainable for the long term.

 

A primary care medical practice isn’t only about clinical expertise. A successful practice has a solid operations team that manages the business side of medicine. Such a team handles clerical tasks, billing, credentialing, human resources, recruitment/staffing, facilities and equipment, and other administrative services. These essential tasks help your practice run smoothly, and allow you to focus on the reason you went into medicine: your patients.

 

What does an operations team do?

Think of an operations team as your business manager for nonclinical operations. Their job is to ensure your practice runs efficiently and effectively. They work with you toward the short-term and long-range goals that you have identified for the practice.

 

Benefits of an operations team

With an operations team, you remain at the helm of your practice. You tap into their expertise and review their recommendations, but you make the ultimate decisions. The benefits of such support are numerous, and include:

 

• Increased efficiencies and economies of scale

• Support necessary for sustainable change

• Help in planning and budgeting

• Compliance with guidelines and regulations

• Expanded recruitment, staff development and training

 

Operations in Your Practice

 

An operations team covers the non-clinical aspects of your practice. This team follows best practices to ensure sustainability for the long term. Following are some common areas that are addressed by a professional operations team.

 

• Facilities and Equipment

• Policies and Procedures

• Office Management

• Human Resources

• Recruitment/Staffing

• Credentialing

• Succession Planning

 

Facilities and Equipment

Staying on top of facilities and equipment is a full-time job. An operations team puts the protocols in place to ensure your facility is safe, secure, and operating at peak efficiency. For example, the team may track technology usage and energy consumption, and evaluate aging office equipment, to inform future purchases. They may contract with maintenance companies on repairs of electrical and mechanical systems, ensuring that the infrastructure is in good working order. They would ensure that your practice is in full compliance with state and federal requirements.

 

Policies and Procedures

A regular review of policies and procedures ensures that they are up-to-date. An operations team can assist with that review, making recommendations on best practices. These include employee health and safety, IT security, social media policies, emergency and evacuation plans, no-show policies, after hours calls, and more.

 

Office Management

Office managers oversee supplies, requisitions, billing and collections, claims submissions, payroll, recordkeeping and filing systems, mail distribution, and more. As cloud-based systems become more integrated into medical practices, office managers are often involved in researching new technologies. They often are the information gatekeeper.

 

Human Resources

Having a dedicated HR department in a medical practice is no longer a luxury. The HR team is essential in employee onboarding and staff development and training. This ensures consistency with practice policies and allows each staff member to work at the top of his/her credentials. HR is the link between practice management and its people.

 

Recruitment/Staffing

A subset of HR, staffing can be challenging, especially when it comes to recruiting for positions in great demand, such as medical assistants and medical receptionists. Finding the right providers for your practice, and retaining them for the long-term is a focus of effective recruitment/staffing.

 

Credentialing

Your medical practice needs the right credentials, and so do each of your providers. An operations team reviews credentials and makes sure they are up to date.

 

Succession Planning

When you ready for retirement, you want to ensure that your practice is in good hands. Having a succession plan in place allows you to do so. An operations team helps you set up your practice for the future, and you for retirement.

 

Why engage Vanguard Health Solutions?

 

With thoughtful, thorough strategic planning, we help keep your primary care medical practice sustainable for the long term. Our operations team brings hands-on experience in facilities and equipment, policies and procedures, office management, human resources, credentialing, and succession planning. We also bring the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that make the difference.

 

• An experienced team of medical practice administrators

• Tech-savvy leaders in medical informatics

• Like-minded primary care practitioners putting patients first

• HR professionals who are experts in recruitment/retention

• Proven track record

 

Vanguard Health Solutions offers the full spectrum of services to help independent practices create sustainable transformation, including:

 

• Operations Team

• Population Health Management Services

• Clinically Integrated Network

 

Key Takeaways

 

An operations team in a primary care medical practice will:

 

• Access key resources to improve your operations and financials

• Reduce costs and increase your practice’s efficiencies

• Streamline your practice’s policies and procedures

• Recruit and retain key providers and staff

• Provide the support for the business of your business, freeing your time, energy and resources to practice medicine

• Set your practice up for a sustainable and successful future

 

Contact us to discover how we can help you advance primary care. Request an exploratory call with a Vanguard Health Solutions specialist today by calling 973.559.3701 or emailing info@vanguardhealthsolutions.com.

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