As you look for additional areas to increase the revenue for your practice, look to include retail sales of nutritional supplements to your existing patients.  When you prescribe (recommend) nutritional support to your patients, you can make it convenient for your patients by stocking vitamins and other dietary supplements right in your office.  Alternative healthcare providers have been doing this for years to increase their revenue and to ensure that their patients take home the appropriate nutritional supplements.  Whether they actually take the supplements is another matter, but at least you’ve done what you can as their doctor.

It’s comparable to not participating in your company’s 401k to get the match. It is simply money left on the table. That’s how you need to look at point-of-service drug dispensing. It’s easy, with low investment, and your competitors just might be jumping on the bandwagon faster than you are.

The old is new again

A short history lesson is in order here: this is nothing new. Physician drug dispensing was the norm in days gone by, but somewhere along the way doctors gave up this income stream and cheerfully handed it to pharmacists. The time has come for you to reclaim your piece of the pie.

Patient Mix is a tricky road to navigate. Many practices just assume the more patients it sees, the more money it makes! Well, what if you could see different patients and make more? What is patient Mix? Patient Mix is the equation that leads to all the patients you see in your practice. Simply put: How many PPO patients, HMO patients, cash patients, and Medicare patients do I have? For example a typical General Practitioner runs about 85-90% on the large HMO patient mix structure. Meaning you are contracted with the top 5-10 HMO/PPO in your area because they control a large patient base. You contract with them and they fill your waiting room with patients. But are the reimbursements what you want? Usually not. You may think you make up for less money with more volume but this approach is a formula for disaster.