Physicians Office
News Briefs
Selected by POR Editorial Board
N
on-Traditional Office
Hours Can Reap Big
Financial Benefits
Physicians can reap significant
financial benefits by extending their office
hours to include non-traditional hours,
according to an article published Jan. 8 in
Medical Economics.
Keith Borglum, C.H.B.C., a practice
management consultant, appraiser, and broker
in Santa Rosa, Calif., notes that additional
patients yield higher profitability after fixed
overhead costs of the practice have been met.
If, for instance, overhead is $20,000 monthly, or
$1,000/workday, it takes approximately 12
patients at $90 average
reimbursement per patient
to pay the office overhead
prior to income to the
physician. Beyond those
first 12 patients, additional
patients only incur a
variable cost, mostly for
medical supplies and billing
costs. These variable costs
run about 12 to 18 percent
of collections.
According to Borglum,
even factoring in additional physician labor
costs, it is financially worthwhile to extend
hours if there is patient demand. Based on the
above figures, four additional patients each
extended hour nets $320 per hour. Even with
four additional hours of physician labor costs
at $100/hour, staying open from 5 p.m. to 9
p.m. can yield an additional $880 per day, pre-
tax net income.
"If a nurse practitioner or physician assistant
is employed, the provider labor costs are
halved, and profitability increases even further,
even if subject to 'incident-to' non-physician
Medicare billing penalties," Borglum writes.
A
AFP: Telemedicine Can
Help With Increased
Demand for Docs
Telemedicine offers a potential
solution to the increased demand for
physician-patient interaction, according to a
report from a recent forum. The forum was
hosted by the Robert Graham Center for A