Let’s be ready to establish a new medical practice that includes a meticulous series of steps. Every medical organization defines its vision and mission, develops a business plan, secures financing, finds the right location, hires employees, implements business-critical technology, complies with legal and regulatory requirements, and markets its services. All steps are vital to every medical practice. It might seem discouraging, but with passionate dedication, organization can bring outstanding patient care and experience, both personally and professionally, benefits of leading an independent practice.

With the help of this article, you may approach each of the following stages with assurance and clarity by breaking the process down into digestible and useful insights:

• Planning your new medical practice
• Setting up your new medical practice
• Growing your new medical practice

Before you start planning the details of opening your medical practice, make a full business plan and a clear strategic vision. To do this, you’ll need to do market research, figure out who your ideal patient is, learn about the market, and then write a business plan.

Specify Medical Practice/outline

An outline of every mission makes a clear road for every business startup and target population. A clear vision is the most important thing for any business to be successful, whether it’s in healthcare, law, consulting, or any other field. When you write down a strong, inspiring vision, you give your organization a guiding light that will shape every step of its journey.

Make a Business Plan

Let’s be real, to make a business plan that includes your business goals, financial projections, marketing strategies, operational details, and possible risks. If business plan should also include how, you will run your business, your professional qualifications, the number of employees you need, and how you will deal with competition if the market is already full. To make sure the business plan is complete and workable, work with a healthcare lawyer or consultant who has more than 10 or 15 years of experience.

Conduct a risk assessment

To conduct a risk assessment, it is necessary to help identify areas of risk related to patient safety, following rules, finances, and the way your business operates. A comprehensive evaluation will help you implement the right protection to keep your patients and practice safe.

Secure financing

At this step, please consult with an accountant knowledgeable in healthcare management to determine the amount of funding you require and explore options for obtaining it, such as government or private loans, federal, state, or local grants, or collaborating with other healthcare providers. Create a budget that includes the costs of starting up, purchasing equipment, paying salaries, rent, and other ongoing expenses.

Find a location

Obviously, location is important for starting new businesses. That’s why you should always select or prefer an area that is convenient and easily accessible for the target population. When evaluating healthcare options, consider factors such as parking availability, proximity to local hospitals, additional services, and referral networks. And ensure that zoning rules and the space are ready to go, or that they will require expensive repairs or upgrades that could delay the opening.

Get necessary licenses and permits

Find out what licenses, permits, and certifications you need to run a medical practice in your area and get them. Then you might need to get a new medical license for the state where you want to work, update your DEA registration, get Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certification or a waiver, and get professional and occupancy permits to follow local rules.

• Evaluate and sign insurance contracts
• Get malpractice insurance

All medical practices need to run smoothly and provide the best possible services. If the organization plans the workflow well from the start, it can ensure that you provide better care to patients, making it easier and more effective for your resources to be utilized. At this point in setting up a new medical practice, you should think about how to schedule appointments, register patients, keep track of medical records, bill and code, and communicate. With the use of technology, such as electronic health records (EHRs) and practice management software, staff work more effectively together and streamline operations.

Build IT infrastructure

To build an IT infrastructure, invest in strong technology, which includes an EHR that is compatible with local hospitals or healthcare systems, secure data storage, network security, and hardware. And you might want to join a healthcare information exchange (HIE). To establish a remote picture archiving and communication system (PACS) so that you can work with other providers on your patients’ healthcare team. Furthermore, ensure that you follow state and federal laws about patient privacy, and set up procedures for backing up data and keeping it safe from hackers. Get help from an IT support to pick software, hardware, and platforms that work well together and can grow with your practice. Also, set up telemedicine and webcam features.

• Purchase equipment and supplies
• Comply with regulatory requirements

Hire a professional team

Every organization’s success depends on its people. Add together a team of skilled and dedicated healthcare and administrative professionals who share your dedication to putting patients first. The first step to making an effective and efficient workplace and encouraging collaboration, ongoing learning, and open communication is to hire other qualified providers, nurses, administrative staff, and support staff. To help you find the right person for the job and set up onboarding processes, write job descriptions that clearly spell out the roles, responsibilities, and requirements.

Make and implement policies and procedures

Always ensure that your practice has clear rules and policies. That includes things like scheduling appointments, taking in patients, billing and coding, infection control, crisis management, and quality assurance. And decide how you will teach your staff these rules.

Provide training

Think about how you will encourage and make it possible for your team to keep learning and getting training, so they are always up to date on the latest medical advances, rules, and best practices. Determine the level of reimbursement your practice will provide for participation in courses, conferences, and professional training.

Build referral networks and community

To start building your referral network and community, get to know other healthcare providers, specialists, and hospitals. Go to professional events, join medical societies, and do community outreach to meet other people in your field and tell them about your practice.

Get ready for ongoing quality improvement steps

Be ready to keep an eye on and improve the practice you give. Always check how you will do regular performance reviews, check how happy patients are, and improve their outcomes and experiences.

Make your own marketing strategy

Decide to market your practice so that you can attract more patients and keep them interested. This could mean making a website, building a brand, doing your business online, and meeting other healthcare professionals in your area.

Finnal checklist for starting medical practice

The section outlined above gives a short overview of the most important steps, processes, and questions to ask yourself when you are thinking about starting your own medical practice. This checklist for starting a new medical practice will help you stay organized and focused once you’re ready to get started.

Creating a strategic business plan

The plan for your company is like a map for the future. It should include your goals, how you plan to reach them, and how you will know when you have reached them.

• Practice mission, vision, and values
• Goals and action plans
• Market analysis for the target market
• Marketing plan
• Risk assessment
• Financial projections
• HIPAA/privacy plan
• Quality assurance processes

Finalize Budget

A well-planned budget lowers the risk of losing money and helps your practice succeed.

• Determine start-up costs
• Estimate ongoing expenses
• Project revenue
• Factor in contingencies
• Project cash flow

Financials Operations

• Hire an accountant
• Apply for financing/business line of credit
• Open a business bank account and a merchant services account
• Develop a chart of accounts
• Determine your fee schedule
• Select payroll solution

Licensure, permits, and credentialing

Consult with your lawyer to find out what licenses and permits you need for your area.

• State medical license
• NPI number
• Drug Enforcement Agency number
• State-controlled substance registration
• Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certification/waiver
• State and/or county business license
• Fictitious name permit
• Credentialing
• Contract process with health plans, HMOs, and PPOs
• Federal Medicare provider application
• State Medicaid provider application
• Hospital privileges

Facilities and equipment

• Identify location
• Set up utilities and internet
• Set up mail delivery
• Updates or renovations
• Select EHR system
• Select digital phone system
• Procure office equipment and supplies
• Establish vendor relationships for clinical supplies
• Clinical supplies
• Ancillary services requirements
• Answering service
• Translation service

Staffing

Always hiring the right people to help you run your business is very important. Figure out which staff members are necessary to open and then hire more as your practice grows.

• Practice manager
• Reception/scheduling
• Clinical staff
• Medical billing
• Create job descriptions
• Determine salary ranges and benefits
• Employee handbook
• Outline policies and procedures
• Develop a training program
• Develop review process
• Dress code/practice-branded scrubs

Marketing strategy and networking

• Conduct local market research to understand demand
• Professional logo and branding
• Launch website
• Create marketing strategy
• Build referral network
• Develop community partnerships
• Plan social media marketing
• Join local associations and professional networks
• Develop a process for handling negative reviews