Clip and Copy: Monitoring business performance

Use this form each month to make sure your financial house is in order.  

How is your practice really doing? Physicians' business numbers take on more meaning when they're compared with other numbers—either the benchmark data generated by the Medical Group Management Association and other organizations, or your own statistics, as determined by your office manager or billing clerk.

The form, from Medical Practice Forms: Every Form You Need to Succeed, by Keith C. Borglum and Diane M. Cate, consultants with Professional Management and Marketing in Santa Rosa, CA, lets you see at a glance how your practice is faring over time. (The book sells for $59.95. To order, call 800-MED-SHOP. The authors can be reached at 707-546-4433.)

"Once you have four or five months of figures posted on this sheet, you'll start to notice trends—and aberrations," say Borglum. "For example, normally you would expect your accounts receivable to go up during a busy month and then down as money is collected. If, instead, A/R continues to rise—and collections remain stagnant—you'll need to find out why.

"Some seasonal change is to be expected," Borglum continues. "In January patients have to meet new deductibles, summers tend to be slower, and well checkups spike when the new school year begins. Unexpected variations, however—say a rise in patient visits without a corresponding rise in charges and accounts receivable—may indicate an office management problem that should be fixed."

Use the blank columns to track other statistics, such as overhead. If something happens that might skew your statistics—say you were on vacation for a week, or your billing clerk quit—indicate that in the Notes column.

—Gail Garfinkel Weiss
Senior Editor

To view the form in Word you must have Word 2000 or better. If you don't have this program you can download the free Microsoft Word 97/2000 Viewer. (You cannot edit an open document in Word Viewer. However, you can copy text to the Clipboard to paste it in other applications).

Other forms and patient handouts are available in the Clip and Copy section of our Web site at www.memag.com .

 

Gail Weiss. Clip and Copy: Monitoring business performance. Medical Economics Jul. 11, 2003;80:94.