How to grow a medical practice: what we do to help medical practices thrive
We are often asked about what it is that we do and the ways we help medical practices to grow and run more efficiently. For this reason, we thought it would be a good idea to share the ways in which we have helped our clients set up, grow and expand their medical practices over the last 7 years.
Generally speaking, we are experienced lawyers that specialise in helping medical practice owners and managers to protect their business. We help doctors and medical centre owners identify what is needed to run a thriving business and to navigate a range of issues or challenges they may face through all stages of their practice-ownership journey.
There’s a lot to know about governance, risk and compliance in most businesses but medical practices are a whole other level.
Growing a Medical Practice - It Starts With Protection
There are three core areas of business that we help medical practice owners with. They are:
People
Practice
Profit
By addressing each of them, unique to how they operate their practice, means they will have the protection and processes they need to run a thriving business.
Getting support and guidance to prepare the necessary documentation will stand any business in good stead. Practice owners and managers should feel confident they are meeting their obligations and not exposing their business to risk.
Let’s look at these three core areas in more detail.
Solutions for People
Having your ducks in a row when it comes to what matters most helps practice managers/owners run an efficient and thriving business. As you would know, a business is nothing without its people. People include:
the team
the owners
the patients
Although there’s a lot to consider when it comes to protecting people in a medical practice, having the right agreements and policies in place doesn’t just provide assurance and confidence to all involved, it also provides peace of mind knowing the business has met its obligations.
Elements medical practices need may include:
Contractor Agreements
Service Agreements
Service and Licence Agreements (if there’s a rental element involved)
Employment Agreements
Nurses (under the Nurses’ Award)
Administration staff (under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award)
Doctors (personalised and negotiated contracts)
Plus, there are a few other things they might need to think about when it comes to people:
Confidentiality Agreements
Medical practices may also have the need for a Confidentiality Agreement or Non Disclosure Agreement. For example, many practices in Australia use the same IT contractors, as generally, they don’t want their information or insights being shared with other practice owners.
Or, medical practices may want to ensure their cleaning and other ancillary staff are aware of what’s expected should they come across particular types of information.
And, if independent consultants form part of the medical practice, having the right Confidentiality Agreement in place makes for smoother business, and peace of mind.
Privacy Policies
Privacy policies and data breach protocols should be readily available for the ‘people’ in the business. While a standardised policy is often suitable for many practices, knowing if it’s adequate can be tricky.
Knowing whether standard documents are sufficient or tailored documents are needed, is important, which is why having professionals and experts in the field review what is in place, is wise.
Consent Forms
The most common forms of this type are Patient Consent Forms and there are many of these depending on what services the medical practice offers. A standard patient consent form may be all one needs, but one may also need to cover other elements such as:
medical students being onsite and in consults
surgical procedures
some specialised services (e.g. Marina implantation)
Being able to tailor consent forms specific to the service your practice provides lets the team function confidently and, of course, minimises the risks to practice managers/owners and their practice.
Optimising your Practice
How practices are structured varies, however, a well-structured medical practice is the first step to protecting it. Even if the structure in place has not caused any issues, it is worth investigating to further minimise your risk.
As legal specialists having worked with medical practices of all sizes and configurations, we have developed an approach to help practices structure and prepare the documentation needed to protect the practice as an entity.
While many practices are set up as a company trustee with a unit trust, there are other options. For example, some practices operate as a Family or Discretionary Trust.
Establishment documentation they may need includes:
Company register (for when the practice is incorporated)
Unit holders agreement
Shareholders agreement
Partnership agreement
Alternatively, we find that sometimes we need to point practice owners in the direction of an Equity Holders Agreement. As a more comprehensive agreement, it covers all aspects (including those mentioned above) when setting up as a company trustee and trust.
Seeking professional advice about how the business is structured will be of benefit. Not only do practice owners need the right option for now, but also into the future as your medical practice grows.
Optimising Profitability
Running the business more efficiently and effectively is vital to optimising profit. There are a number of legal and operational aspects to be addressed first in order to do this.
Licence to occupy
Many practices have rooms available to allied health professionals or services such as pathology. The Licence to Occupy puts in place protections for both parties.
Intellectual Property Licence
This is particularly important if there is specialised knowledge within the practice. Or, if the practice is part of a larger group, it sets out the guidelines for sharing that information between locations and people.
Advertising Policy
The medical industry is highly regulated when it comes to advertising. Having a robust policy in place makes it clear what the team can and can’t do. This is not just from a regulatory perspective, but also from a cultural perspective around how the practice is to be portrayed.
Social Media Policy
With similar intent to the advertising policy, the social media policy focuses on the nuances of using social media platforms. Plus, social media promotion can sometimes be a tricky path to tread, so having it well documented for the people removes ambiguity about how they use social media platforms.
Insurance Policy Reviews
We see that medical practices can be inundated with choices and have misconceptions about what products and levels of cover are required when it comes to insurance. Unfortunately, many insurance brokers or salespeople have very little concern for what's best for these practices as they are more focused on ‘getting the sale’.
Having insurance policies reviewed can provide considerable efficiencies and savings for the business. We find that many practices have coverage well beyond what they need, so getting help to match insurance needs with the right insurance products makes sense.
Risk Reviews
Medical practices need to pay particular attention to how they manage risk in all aspects of their business. Undertaking regular risks reviews by an independent and impartial party can streamline how effective the practice is. For many of our clients, this is something we do for them as an annual, routine review.
How to run a successful medical practice
Overall, the best way to ensure a medical practice’s people, practice and profit are protected, is to seek advice from professionals who understand the industry well and have your best interests at heart.
In our 7 years of supporting medical practice owners and having close connections to the medical industry, we have developed expertise in understanding the risks and protecting medical practices and owners.
We know what is (and isn’t) needed to add value to your business. Our clients tell us that working with them has made the process less overwhelming and increased their confidence in relation to risk and meeting obligations. We know that having peace of mind knowing you’re meeting your obligations, is paramount.
Whether you are starting out or seeking support to improve or grow your practice, we invite you to get in touch and have a no-obligation conversation with us about the goals you have for your practice. Book a time here.