Ancillary Services
Scaling Physician Practices Part 3. Learn more about the considerations to take into account before adding ancillary services to your practice.
Many specialties have the opportunity to extend the continuum of care and grow their practice in a meaningful way by adding ancillary services. This patient care-centric approach can range from imaging services to lab, pharmacy, and many others. For example, performing an MRI in the office saves the patient a trip to an imaging center, and in many cases, at least compared to hospitals, is significantly more cost-efficient for the patient. Providers can benefit from an increase to their bottom line by keeping revenue in-house, and a comprehensive approach to care also incents the patient to stay within the group practice. Importantly, the patient will recognize significant advantages through convenience, familiarity with the location and staff, ease of scheduling, and quicker results all within one organization.
Key questions providers should ask:
- How does this fit into my clinical workflow?
- Is this a service that my patient demographic can benefit from and would they have a hard time accessing otherwise?
- Do I have enough density and volume to make this successful?
It’s also important to understand the regulatory framework for adding ancillaries. Make sure billing and coding are done accurately.
As physicians are increasingly faced with rising operating costs and compressing reimbursement, ancillaries can provide additional income streams and have tremendous access and cost benefits to patients.
This is the third part in a 5-part series on scaling a multi-site physician services practice. Subscribe to our email list or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for updates on our latest blog posts. To go back to our series overview, click here.