By Matthew Gillman, Business Financing Expert & SMB Compass Founder
All businesses regardless of size or industry need experts to keep the operations running. For medical practitioners, it’s crucial to hire people who specialize in areas not related to healthcare because you need someone to fill in any skills gap. Doing so allows you to leverage additional expertise in your business, particularly in tasks you’re not very adept at.
This article demonstrates the five different experts you should employ in your healthcare business for it to grow exponentially.
Customer Service
Customer service professionals serve as your extra pair of hands in delivering the best patient experiences. They are the ones who answer calls or respond to emails on your behalf. They also ensure that your patients’ healthcare information is up-to-date, allowing you to gain accurate insights.
Providing a great customer service experience in your healthcare business is important. It becomes your first line of defense. An office manager or customer service team member gives patients the right information about your services, and they address the patient inquiries instantly. They also help you schedule appointments.
More importantly, your customer support team will tell you exactly what your patients are saying. They know what patients would recommend, what their common issues are, and how they want to be treated on their next visit.
Compliance
When you don’t have the time to ensure you comply with the latest industry best practices, certifications, or accreditation, you can entrust that to a compliance expert.
Compliance experts keep you abreast of new certifications you need for your business, as well as prepare your documents for renewal purposes. This includes safety standards, cybersecurity certifications, fire safety practices, and so on.
One of the most important privacy rules your healthcare practice needs to comply with is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
HIPAA is a federal law that requires healthcare practitioners to comply with national security standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without their consent.
For healthcare providers like you, you need to comply with HIPAA if you are electronically transmitting the patient’s health information to process certain transactions.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these transactions include “claims, benefit eligibility inquiries, referral authorization requests, and other transactions for which the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has established standards under the HIPAA Transactions Rule.”
Complying with these healthcare accreditations and certifications will give your patients the confidence that their information is managed and stored with the highest level of security.
Accounting
If you don’t have time to keep the books in order, you can entrust that to an accounting expert.
Accountants can help you maintain positive cash flow by ensuring all debts and bills are paid, income is recorded accurately, and employees are paid on time. They also help you prepare the documents for tax season and plan your next business expansion.
Some small businesses would hire a bookkeeper to oversee the inflow and outflow of cash, then pass that data to an accountant. The accountant will analyze the books to see the company’s financial health, then advise you through your decision making.
In other cases, small business owners would hire an accountant and provide them with tools for recordkeeping and analysis. Others would hire a third party accounting expert and pay them for an as-needed basis.
Digital Marketing
As you scale your healthcare practice, you need to hire digital marketing experts to help you attract more patients, promote your services, or grow your brand presence. This is where a digital marketer and SEO expert come in: they will help you connect with new and existing patients to increase foot traffic in the clinic.
Not only that, digital marketers can help you connect with like-minded individuals through LinkedIn. They help you build strong relationships with people who are in the healthcare industry, build online communities, or share your insights to groups.
Aside from digital marketers, you can also get professional help from SEO experts. This is important if you have a website and you want to increase the number of appointment bookings on the online platform.
Tech
Last but not the least are your IT experts. Tech professionals know the ins and outs of everything you use to run your business–from computers to POS systems to your CCTVs. They are the people you call for help when the network is down or when your Wi-Fi suddenly stops working.
On top of that, tech experts can help you secure and backup your files to protect them against calamities of cybersecurity attacks. A WeForum article explained that “ransomware attacks dominate the broadening scope of threats to healthcare providers.”
CyberPeace Institute analyzed data on over 235 cyberattacks against the healthcare industry in 33 countries. Their study revealed that over 10 million records have been stolen, including sensitive information like social security numbers, patient medical records, financial data, HIV test results and private information of medical donors.
It added that an average of 155,000 records were breached during one attack on the healthcare sector. Some breaches involved more than 3 million stolen records.
Take note that it’s not necessary to hire an in-house tech professional if money is tight. You can outsource IT experts within your area and seek expert help when the need arises.
Getting expert help can improve your patient care
Growing your business becomes easier when you have the right experts to handle specific tasks. Remember that in this journey, you don’t have to do everything on your own. Once you accept help from experts, you’ll have more time treating patients with the best of care.
About the Author
Matthew Gillman is a business financing expert with more than a decade of experience in commercial lending. He is the founder and CEO of SMB Compass, a specialty finance company providing education and financing options for business owners.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
