Medical Practice Management Challenges

Good practice management is a prerequisite to good patient care and is in the best interests of patients and the office. However, every medical office comes with its own set of challenges, and when they occur, they must be overcome and resolved by virtue of training, guidance, special knowlege, and experience. Some of the possible challenges might be:

The uninsured patient
Coordination of benefits
Specialty care referrals
Managed care
State and Federal laws
Attorneys and lawsuits
Third party liability issues
Insurance companies
State and federal regulatory agencies
Compliance (OIG, OSHA, HIPAA)
ERISA and CLIA
State Health Department
Debt collection agencies
Debt collection laws
State insurance laws
Medicare/Medicaid
Tricare rules
Auto accident cases
Workers compensation cases
Court procedures
Medico-legal examinations
Consent and informed decision making
Patient dissatisfaction
Ineffective appointment systems
Misplaced patient records
Unproven and alternate therapies

and

Efficiency of written communications
Security of office and computer systems
Adequacy and security of patient records
Quality of the equipment
Safety of the practice
Filing patents for new treatments

For larger medical groups, practice managers may be employed to undertake some of this work, such as solve a problem, or resolve pressing issues. In other cases the task may be allocated to a specialist of the group who has the necessary skills and background. Sometimes an outside consultant, or lawyer may be hired, while the doctor and his medical assistants continue their daily medical office routine.

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