Unpaid excess – the usual reason
Ever thought what is the most often quoted reason for non-payment by a patient of the excess? The same reason is quoted over and over again. It is not ‘I haven’t got the money” nor is it “I didn’t...
Patient’s outcome and on-line reviews aren’t enough
Every single consultant I've ever met is dedicated to patient care and the best possible outcome for his or her patient. But sadly that has little to do with the outcome of the practice as a...
Getting Paid for An Excess
Excess and shortfalls are the biggest headaches any private medical practice will face. You will not stop them despite what you may think so you MUST have a process in place to identify them and...
Asking for help is a good thing!
Recently I was reading an article in a business management magazine. The article highlighted some of the challenges faced by small business owners when they start. But it could also have been...
Open Referral – it’s just not right
Recently a family member decided an appointment with a private consultant was necessary. As the family member had private medical insurance, a phone call was made to the consultant suggested by the...
More patients? Strip out the driving.
I had a Zoom meeting last week with a consultant who was keen to grow his practice. We'd known each other for a while. Indeed we had begun speaking when he had not achieved his goals. Because they...
I want to see more patients.
One of the most common remarks I hear from my guys is the number of patients they see in the NHS. They literally have patients queuing up to see them. Such a comment is normally followed by the...
get in control of your “to do” list
It is truly depressing when I hear "my to-do list" is two pages long. That is normally followed by the statement "I haven't stopped all day but haven't achieved anything" A couple of observations....
Remittance advice are not just bits of paper
Some consultants do not appreciate remittances sent to them are important. They are not just for tax reasons. They are not just to keep the accountant happy. There is a time-critical reason...
Sanity Checks are important
Alarm bells There a few things I hear that automatically set alarm bells ringing when I look at the invoicing and billing process of a business. "I'll take a look at it next week" "I'll get round to...
Get it right first time.
Basic Mistakes I was literally 70% through billing for a client’s clinic lists from last Friday. Eight separate patients and a mixture of initial and follow up consultations. All was going well...
The Consultant who didn’t have time to get paid
There are only 24 hours in a day. All of my guys are incredibly busy. I'm amazed at the volume of work they get through in a single day. They are either on-call, doing a ward round or in theatre....