Independent clinics remain an indispensable part of healthcare, primarily because their foundation rests on strong, personal relationships rather than sheer corporate scale. A major 2024 Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) report indicates that independent physicians increased their productivity in 2023 compared to 2022. This rise was seen in higher median work RVUs across primary care, surgical, and nonsurgical specialties.
To understand recent productivity trends, it’s helpful to know how Medicare measures physician work. They utilize work Relative Value Units (RVUs) to assess the time, technical skill, and decision-making complexity involved in each patient service. Generally, higher RVUs indicate more patient care delivered and greater revenue potential.
Design a Financial Model Built for Agility
Forward-thinking CFOs are moving away from rigid annual budgets. Many now prefer rolling forecasts, which are refreshed every 30 to 60 days. These forecasts pull live data from revenue, staffing, and scheduling dashboards. This approach turns scenario planning into a daily reflex, not just a frantic year-end scramble.
Think about the agility this offers. For example, if Monday’s data flags an uptick in same-day appointments, finance can redeploy staff and supplies that same afternoon. By Friday, a new clinic block can be opened. In short, decisions that once lingered in spreadsheets now translate into immediate, responsive capacity, with an always-on insight style model.
Such momentum is crafted by chief financial officers who understand that agility can outperform sheer scale. When these leaders elevate finance from a backward-looking scorekeeper to a forward-driving strategy hub, they unlock true independence. This independence then fuels critical advantages, like quick strategic shifts, efficient decision-making, and deep patient connections. These are the elements we use to build powerful growth engines.
Billing as a Growth Engine
Consumerism now reaches the check-in desk. Patients want flight-style price clarity and will often walk away if they don’t get it. Savvy independent CFOs meet that demand with transparency and convenience. Some add real-time cost estimators to patient portals so visitors know their numbers before they ever reach the front desk. Others pre-approve zero-interest payment plans before the patient leaves the exam room, removing barriers and building trust. Recent MGMA Data Dive benchmarks reveal that “better performing” practices (or those that emphasize up-front collections and flexible financing) capture a larger share of accounts receivable within the first 30 days and carry fewer balances past 120 days than their peers.
That does not stop there. Faster cash flow further funds extra capacity that shortens wait times and prompts patients to post rave reviews online. Every turn of that loop injects new surplus into upgrades, which steadily raises the bar for convenience and care across the practice.
Build Your Practice’s Data Moat
Imagine each application used by a practice (EHR, billing, and scheduling) as its own small well of information. Now, picture ‘piping’ them together. You’ll then have a deep reservoir of unique data, a true “data moat” for the practice. This database constantly refreshes with vital details like clinical notes, denial codes, inventory, and even patient message responses. It’s a fast-moving trend, too. By the end of 2024, industry surveys reported 43% of U.S. medical groups had already boosted these data streams with AI tools.
I’ve personally seen that when practices commit to this kind of data integration, they transform and stop being reactive or just running month-end reports. Instead, they become proactive and identify exactly where referrals are leaking or how even small changes in payer behavior affect their bottom line. These are real, actionable truths from within their own walls, giving leaders much sharper, more relevant insights.
Financial Transparency—A CFO Branding Strategy
Personalized attention and community connection sit at the core of independent medicine. CFOs can magnify those strengths by teaming with marketing and clinical counterparts to weave financial well-being into the public story of the practice.
For example, strategic investments in technology and talent are rising to the top of every independent CFO’s agenda. After shoring up their balance sheets through the pandemic years, many are now channeling that strength into modernizing systems and expanding clinical capacity. In the 2025 BDO Healthcare CFO Outlook Survey, a large majority said their next round of capital will go to new tech deployments and facility or workforce growth. These are moves designed to accelerate revenue and elevate patient care simultaneously.
Digital payment options are next in line. Mobile wallets, real-time transfers, and even “buy now, pay later” plans are moving from retail into exam rooms, which makes checkouts a friction-free experience. This way, patients enjoy transparency and flexibility, while providers gain faster cash flow and lower billing costs—critical ingredients for any value-based care model.
Furthermore, financial literacy is becoming a patient-education tool. Forward-looking practices weave short-term money prompts into every touchpoint and make zero-interest plans readily available. Phelps Health in Missouri, for instance, offers a 0% interest plan that lets families manage expenses without fear of hidden fees—an approach that cements trust and underscores the system’s commitment to accessible care.
When financial stability fuels innovation instead of sitting idle, independent clinics can outmaneuver consolidation pressures. Every surplus is reinvested locally, governance stays close to the community, and patients remain at the center of every decision.
Beth Jarnecke
Beth Jarnecke is CFO of RXNT.
