Managing Your Practice

The LAFP along with the AAFP have put together a helpful overview of topics you should consider when choosing and managing your practice situation.

Starting your own practice
If you are thinking of starting your own practice in Louisiana, it is important that you begin your planning early.  There are many aspects you need to consider to establish a successful practice.  The process should begin with careful evaluation of potential locations and managed care or other health insurance income streams.  Credentialing will take several months, so allow yourself an ample amount of time to become credentialed with Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial health plans. Check out the AAFP’s publication On Your Own: Starting a Medical Practice from the Ground Up.  This step-by-step guide will help point you in the right direction.  You may purchase the guide by clicking the link above or by contacting the AAFP’s Orders Department at (800)944-0000.

Building a healthy business will give you and your staff more time to spend with your patients by minimizing the time needed to run your business. Here are a few tips to help you get started.

Marketing your practice
Marketing your practice is a key business tool to help establish a flourishing patient base.  When starting your own practice, you need to consider which type of marketing plan with work best for you.  Consider the practice’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to its success. 

Marketing tips for your practice:

• Identify your competitors and compare your practice to theirs. What can you do to make your practice stand out?
• Build a referral base. Introduce yourself to local pharmacists, medical societies, referral services, staff at
  hospitals and emergency departments, and other colleagues.
• Become a friendly voice of authority. Speak to schools, at community and hospital organizations, and submit columns on health care issues to your local newspaper.
• Publish articles in the LAFP weekly e-newsletter and submit CME articles for accreditation in the quarterly journal– Louisiana Family Doctor. This is a great, FREE way to get your name out there!
• The AAFP offers kits with outlines and speaking points on topics such as weight control, nutrition, smoking
  cessation, TAR WARS, women’s health, STDs, and alcohol. To order any of these tools, call (800) 274-2237.
• Create and maintain a website for your practice to enhance communication with your patients.
• For more marketing tips read the AAFP’s Family Practice Management.
  

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Preparing for the unexpected Preparing for unexpected events and disasters is a type of planning that you and the practice need to become familiar with to help prevent major downfall. You need to establish a plan with which you feel comfortable.  The AAFP has developed two manuals designed to help members prepare for the unexpected: AAFP Preparedness Manual for Disasters and Public Health Emergencies and Preparing Your Practice for a Medical Emergency.  You must be a member to access these files.  If you are not currently a member, sign up today to access these benefits and more.

Louisiana State Medical Society– Disaster Planning Report
This report documents the major breakdowns and failures of emergency preparedness plans and responses related to health care in an effort to educate physicians and the health care community on the need to reassess their emergency preparedness plans in light of the lessons Louisiana learned.