Auditing your practice to find new potential sources of revenue can be a daunting task because it requires you to think outside the box – you will have to view the practice in a new light.  Conceptualizing new sources of revenue means that you’ll have to stop thinking of your practice in terms of its past and start thinking in terms of its potential.

First decide on a timeline for auditing your practice’s current revenue streams.  Preliminary research usually takes less time than implementation of the ideas that result, but you’ll want to ensure that you’re basing your decisions on quality data.  You can probably develop a comprehensive report of your practice’s current revenue-generating endeavors by keeping careful records over a two-to-three month time span.

You will doubtless come up with numerous ideas for new revenue streams as you conduct your audit.  Keep a record of those as well, without analyzing them too carefully.  “Brainstormed” ideas can serve as great jumping-off points when you start narrowing the field of potential new targets.

After you’ve collated the results of your audit, begin formulating ideas for new revenue streams and developing those that seem processing.  This process should take another two to three months; you’ll eliminate some options as you go about your daily business and see that they won’t fit in with your current offerings for one reason or another.  To get you started, here are some typical alternative revenue streams for medical practices:

• Laser Therapy (Toe Nail Fungus, Sports Injury Treatment, Chronic & Acute Pain Relief)
• Supplements (Vitamins, Probiotics, Antioxidants)
• Durable Medical Equipment (Wheelchairs, Walking Boots, Infusion Pumps, Blood Glucose Monitors)
• Sports Medicine
• Concierge Medicine
• Microcurrent (Chronic & Acute Pain Relief, Sports Injury Treatment)
• Acupuncture
• Exercise therapy
• Massage therapy
• Nutritional counseling

After developing a final proposal of three to five potential complimentary therapies for your practice, begin laying out how you would implement each one.  Keep in mind that since you don’t want to spend too much money and time on testing, you’ll be integrating just one into your practice at a time.

Use a patient survey and/or your practice’s Facebook page to help determine whether or not the revenue-generator you’re considering is a viable one for your geographic area and patient base.  Generate some buzz about the procedure you intend to offer via your practice’s newsletter and gauge patient response.  Just because you think your practice is ready to offer this new service doesn’t mean patients / potential patients will accept it or make use of it at the level you hope.    

Also, prior to implementation, decide whether the new therapy is intended to attract new patients to your practice or to encourage existing patients to take advantage of the new service.  The answer to this question will heavily influence the marketing of the new revenue stream. 

If the new offering involves bringing a new practitioner on board, cast a wide net and interview candidates thoroughly.  You’ll want to ensure that they’re a good fit for your practice as well as skilled in their specialty.

Determining alternative sources of revenue for your medical practice is a time-consuming, intensive process.  But the security your practice will experience as a result makes it well worth the effort!

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