To be a success, your healthcare business must negotiate several problematic risks. Find out what are 4 of the biggest risks and how to prevent them from impacting your healthcare business.
By Team Savant
Image: Jose Losada
Patient Cancellation
One of the biggest risks to the success of your healthcare business is patient cancellation of appointments. This is such a big problem because when patients cancel at the last minute or miss appointments, your medical staff’s valuable time is wasted.
The good news is that there are some things you can do to minimise missed and cancelled appointments. The first is to have a very clear policy on charging unless 48 48-hour notice is given. The second is to better understand why your patients are cancelling their appointments and deal with those on an operational level. For instance, if your paint is dehumanised by your booking systems, what are some ways you can provide them with a more personal touch?
Cybersecurity
Recent ransomware attacks on medical institutions have shown that poor cybersecurity can cause a massive risk to the success of this type of business. The solution is, of course, to make sure you have robust cybersecurity protection, including encryption, firewalls, and antivirus software that is kept up to date.
Making sure you apply security measures such as two-factor access to controls and patient records is crucial, too. Oh, and don’t forget to make sure that any third-party devices you use, whether they are medical or administrative, need to be checked to ensure they are secure and safe as well.
Noncompliance
Noncompliance is all about not sticking to the rules and regulations that govern your industry. Non-compliance is always a bad idea because it can lead to dangerous situations and big fines, and court cases. However, in the healthcare business, non-compliance can be fatal for patients.
That is why it's so crucial that you not only know what regulations and laws you need to abide by but also check that this is happening on a consistent and regular basis. The good news is that you can now work with providers that offer pre-written care policies and procedures for your field. This allows you fast and accurate access to all the information you need, without needing to create all of the policies and procedures yourself, a task that can be very in-depth, complicated and time-consuming. Not to mention disastrous if you get any of it wrong.
Not Enough Staff
Another thing that could eat away at the success of your healthcare business is not having access to enough staff. Unfortunately, staff shortages are common in the healthcare field because while the field itself is growing, recruitment is not keeping pace.
It's best to approach this issue with a multi-pronged approach. The first is to make sure that you connect with agencies in your area that can provide healthcare workers, as this can see you through an emergency. Secondly, it's important to invest in your recruitment approach. Marketing your business as a good place to work and advertising the unique benefits you offer is crucial to this. Finally, working on retention can be very helpful. This means providing rewards for long service and opportunities for growth and promotion, so employees do not have to go elsewhere to get these.