Although it’s challenging, running your own medical practice is a rewarding undertaking – but it’s unlike most other private businesses. For a start, you may need to use widely differing procedures, tests, consumables or medical equipment to diagnose and treat each of your patients correctly.

It’s easy to get your capital tied up in medical supplies and unpaid invoices, unless you’re careful and keep a close eye on your business finances. This in turn means your internal systems are under pressure to bill your patients correctly and procure payments with sufficient regularity to keep your business afloat.

Knowing that medical professionals face unique business challenges in their practices, we have a team of bankers that is dedicated to helping business owners in this field find solutions for industry-specific challenges. Our bankers work exclusively with the medical industry and have gained years of expertise in the field as a result.

Based on their intimate understanding of the challenges of a medical practice, we’ve identified 3 key pillars that are essential to building a successful practice:
 

1. Understanding your input costs

Getting your costings and budget to work in unison means knowing exactly what’s involved in every consultation or procedure that you perform. Whether you’re a dentist performing a tooth extraction, an anaesthetist in the operating theatre or a sonographer giving a pregnant patient an ultrasound scan, your costings will differ according to the equipment and consumables used, whether you require the assistance of colleagues in other disciplines and, of course, the time it takes to perform the procedure.

Drawing up a list of your expenses based on your day-to-day needs is the first step towards developing the appropriate investment strategy for your private practice. This list should be categorised and costed according to the frequency you expect expenses to occur every month.
 

2. Understanding your financial needs

Planning to succeed means having a long-term goal and a detailed understanding of your medical practice. You need a holistic view of your entire business operation, from day-to-day consultations to operational infrastructure, systems and staff.

Some key costs to bear in mind include:

Medical billing software

You’ll need this to handle all the paperwork that comes with patient payments and deductions effectively. In some instances, you may need a system that processes accounts payable, medical bills, patient claims and insurance.

Electronic medical records system

Today’s digital world demands digital recordkeeping. This will be true of your patient records and medical histories, which must be stored securely.

Telemedicine software

Remote medicine is no longer a pipedream – if anything, it has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This means investing in the right infrastructure to offer these types of remote consultation services.
 

Medical practice management system

Apart from patient management systems, you also need a robust system to help you manage your medical practice. This should allow you to do things like schedule appointments, manage and buy supplies and give you management reports.
 

Insurance

This is an essential in your risk management toolkit. Apart from medical malpractice insurance and business interruption cover, you also need to consider business overhead expense insurance, property insurance and workers’ compensation insurance.
 

3. Finding the right financial partner

Once you have a clear and comprehensive view of the financing needs of your practice, you can use this insight to identify the most suitable investment strategies over the short, medium and long term. Depending on your risk tolerance and financial goals, you could choose from value or growth strategies to conservative, moderate or aggressive approaches to accumulating capital.

Expert financial advice is essential in this regard, which is why Private Clients from Nedbank includes access to qualified and experienced advisors with insights into the financial and business needs of medical practices. We also offer 24/7 access to a relationship banker who understands the bespoke investment options available for your business.

These relationships are especially valuable because they can help ease your path to setting up your own private practice. Your professional banker can, for instance, help to source preferential rates on your investments. They can also help you develop financial management strategies that cover your practice’s ongoing operational and capital needs.