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Adding Ancillaries – Look Before You Leap!
You’ve got to know the territory – and your practice – to be successful
By Judy Capko
Adding ancillary services is attracting the attention of many primary care physicians, and for good reason. Many physicians are touting the advantages it has brought to their practice. Just the same, it’s not a good fit for every family physician, and in some cases it turns out to be a poor investment in practice resources. Here are a few tips to consider before you take the plunge.
Know thy practice.
Start with a self-evaluation and clarify your motivations. If you are thinking about a particular ancillary service because the competition offers it or it’s the latest rage, think again. That may not be a good enough reason. Before you consider adding ancillaries, ask yourself a few key questions.
• What is it I do well and can capitalize on?
• What ancillaries would I
enjoy doing?
• What inspires me?
• Are there philosophical issues?
It is important that you approve of and are comfortable with adding the new product or service that is being considered. It must fit with your practice culture. If you have a conservative practice, adding aesthetics or homeopathic services may disrupt the status quo. In fact, in the long run, it may be difficult for you to endorse and promote these types of services. Such a change in practice style might even alienate of confuse patients that like your conservative approach. At the same time, adding holter monitors and lab studies would be something these patients would take advantage of and appreciate.
By examining what the patients need or want you can actually fill a gap in your services. Think about what services are currently referring out that could be done in-house and what the existing patients may be asking for that you don’t provide. This may reveal an excellent opportunity to enhance the practice, serve the patients better and improve the bottom-line.
It’s a good idea to survey
your patients in advance. The information they provide is an important component to evaluating the potential opportunity and what it will mean to the practice.
Know the Community.
If one of the motivations for adding ancillaries is the hope that it will attract a different type of patient and expand your practice, do a little homework. Does the demographics in the community provide a sufficient pool of patients to draw from or will you need to draw patients from a neighboring area? Thanks to the internet this information is very accessible. Identify what age group, sex and economic factors are essential to attract enough patients to the new product or service.
Understand the Impact
It’s important to take a critical look at the time and space required to add ancillary services, and how it will impact your staff and the patients.
I remember a group family medical practice I worked with a few years ago. Several of the physicians were eager to add Botox® to boost a sagging bottom-line. However, they weren’t prepared for the very different needs of the Botox® patient. These patients don’t want to sit in a reception room with sick people. They also want to be seen “on time” and won’t tolerate a long wait. They also expect a reception room that is decorator-perfect.
We put the brakes on this project and took the time to complete an analysis and develop a plan of action. In the end, the service was added, but provided in a different suite, where the needs and preferences of these patients could be met, and a marketing plan was implemented. Within a year the results of this aesthetic program were amazing. They now provide a broad array of elective services including laser hair removal, massages, facials and skin products.
Look at how your practice currently functions. Do you have enough physical space to add the equipment or free space to provide the service? And do you have the physical capacity to add more patients without more staff? Involve existing staff to seek their opinions and gather their support. They will think of things that didn’t come to your mind, but must be dealt with to move forward. The impact on staff can sabotage the new ancillary, unless they are well prepared and careful planning has taken place.
It’s also important to think about the impact on your time. If you are taking revenue from office visits to add this service, calculate this amount when running the numbers for your return on investment. If you are already busy, adding the service may require bringing in another clinician.
In the End
Adding ancillaries can be a great move and a boost to your practice. At the same time, it’s important to proceed with caution and give the details the attention required for a successful outcome.
Judy Capko is a healthcare consultant with more than 20 years experience. She is the author of the popular book “Secrets of the Best-Run Practices.” Her focus is practice operations, staffing, finance and strategic planning. Judy is a national lecturer and has been a presenter at ACOFP conferences. She is based in Thousand Oaks, CA, www.capko.com and can be reached at 805-499-9203 or e mail: judy@capko.com
