For a successful PT practice, there will be barriers. These obstacles to your practice success include reduced profitability, poor morale, frequent turnover and others. The problems are significant, as are the consequences. Among the numerous barriers to success, three, in particular, stand out: revenue shortfalls, staffing, and compliance and billing. Here are why the problems persist and ways you can find solutions.

Revenue

Numerous practices underperform key benchmarks for income, yearly growth and other crucial financial metrics. There are reasons. There is a chance that your clinic might be lagging behind national averages. You may have failed to establish detailed protocols about visits per patient and other small details. Fail to stay focused on patient outcomes, and you might lose future referrals. Finally, you might not be treating the practice as a business. Your clinic should emphasize care and treatment. However, do not let yourself get pulled away from the business problems. Consider the following fixes:

• Identify the metrics that drive growth and analyze them continuously.
• Embrace change by making improvements on deficiencies you measure and quantify progress.
• Please focus on the patient experience, ensuring that patients complete their entire treatment plan.

Staffing

Staffing is a challenge for most clinics, and finding and keeping therapists is difficult. Top physical therapists receive multiple offers in desirable locations, and if your practice does not stand out, it will not be easy to attract interest in the job you are offering. A good salary is desirable, but many therapists want the opportunity to grow and expand their skills. If you lack a defined program for development and resources for recruitment, you will lose therapists. Here are three suggestions:

• Attract the right talent with an incentive plan which includes sign-on and retention bonuses. Also, explain how the work experience will benefit the candidate.
• Value the input of your staff and nurture team morale. Provide educational opportunities and the chance to develop skills.
• The process of recruiting is ongoing, so have a defined and ongoing program to attract talent.

Compliance

It is crucial that monitor compliance and billing, but it is not very easy. Tasks such as coding and documentation bog down your staff, leading to morale problems and payment delays. Under-coding or improper coding lead to permanent losses. Finally, a RAC visit can result in regulatory drawbacks with possibly devastating consequences. Here are some measures your practice can take:

• Automate and update your tools to streamline your workflow and review your compliance and billing technology.
• Review compensation, provide ongoing training and create a team-building atmosphere.
• If compliance and billing are a problem, consider a cost/benefit analysis of outsourcing this part of your practice.

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