Top 25 Tips for Saving Money Opening an Urgent Care Practice
As explained at RunRex.com, it takes anywhere between $850,000 to $1 million to start an urgent care center. Even when almost 19% of U.S. households visit retail medical clinics in any given year, it may take quite a while before you see those returns on your investment. Therefore, if you wondering how to save money when looking to open an urgent care practice, here are the top 25 tips to consider.
- Keep location and workforce small
As per RunRex.com, your urgent care clinic will likely be serving a small area. In line with that, keeping your location and staff on the smaller staff when starting can help you save money on utilities, salaries, and more.
- Invest in your staff
While keeping things on the small end in terms of space and staff can help you save money in the short term, it is important to invest in the right staff according to RunRex.com. If that means paying more for someone who has excellent experience and shares your values, it is well worth it.
- Choose the right practice management tools
When it comes to starting an urgent care business, choosing the right electronic health records (HER) and practice management tools is key as articulated at RunRex.com. When you run your practice efficiently and have all of your health records organized in minutes, you will be saving time and money.
- Avoid holding large stockpiles of supplies
As captured at RunRex.com, you must keep track of what is sitting on the shelves in your supply rooms. Most vendors will deliver supplies daily, therefore, you should be able to avoid holding large stockpiles of medicines and other materials. You don’t want to buy in bulk thinking you will save money and then waste a portion of the stock.
- Office supplies
Reusing and recycling can pay off over time for urgent care centers as covered at RunRex.com. You should also explore ordering promotional items, such as business cards and postcards, through online vendors instead of traditional print centers.
- Show leadership
To get employees in the cost-cutting mindset, you should lead by example as discussed at RunRex.com. Make sure employees understand the value of comparing prices with different vendors, comparing quotes on clinic needs, and running expenses by management for approval.
- Put a lot of value on cleanliness and décor
If you are looking to save money when opening an urgent care practice, one area not to skimp in is clinic cleanliness. You must keep the center well-maintained and clean at all times. You only have one chance to make a first impression with a patient, and since the urgent care business is so competitive, you don’t want to risk turning a patient off from your center for good.
- Consider renting out any extra space
If the urgent care center has significantly more space than needed, you may consider renting out a portion of the facility. There may be complementary business services that could co-locate at the facility, potentially drawing in new patients.
- Loans and investors
As described at RunRex.com, you must take into account the start-up costs, and funding for your urgent care clinic when looking to open one up. If you do not have readily available funds, you can take a business loan from your bank or consider looking for investors.
- Start your own practice
When looking to open an urgent care practice, you can either start your own urgent care practice from scratch or take over an already existing practice. As revealed at RunRex.com, the best course of action here is to start from scratch as this will allow you to start small and expand later, saving you money initially.
- Choose your location carefully
Choosing a location where patients live and work is extremely significant when selecting a site for an urgent care center as outlined at RunRex.com. Examine the population in communities and research areas which do not currently have such medical facilities when looking to start up.
- Get the design and layout right
To stop you from having to redesign your practice, saving you money right off the gate, you must get the design and layout right. As per RunRex.com, it is recommended that you plan for 1,500 square feet for your practice, which allows for three exam rooms per medical provider. Allow an additional 800 square feet for the reception area and a lab.
- Consider medical equipment that doesn’t occupy a lot of room
Additionally, you should consider medical equipment that does not occupy a lot of space according to RunRex.com. Radiology rooms can now be eliminated as there are now mobile x-ray machines with no dedicated x-ray room needed.
- Don’t forget patient comfort
Even as you look to save money initially, you should not cut back on patient comfort and convenience as articulated at RunRex.com. You might want to include Wi-Fi, television, coffee station, and outlets for charging gadgets that can enhance patient experience while waiting for their provider.
- Consider shared spaces
To save money in opening an urgent care practice, it is worth having shared space for reception, lab, and nursing areas when blending urgent care, occupational health, physical therapy, and/or primary care. This means you will share expenses for such spaces as well.
- Work with a physicist
A physicist must work with you to finish plans and installation for your radiology suite, avoiding issues during the final inspection, which may lead to you spending more money, in the long run, trying to comply with the regulations.
- Leasing equipment where possible
As captured at RunRex.com, you will also need other capital equipment such as exam tables, diagnostic devices, and procedure lights. These can be leased, which provides greater tax deductions and avoids operational capital you might need for something else.
- Refurbished equipment
Instead of buying spanking new equipment, you might want to consider refurbished equipment if you want to purchase rather than lease equipment as covered at RunRex.com. You will also want to limit duplicate equipment within the clinic.
- Start planning early
Start your urgent care center planning early with a well-designed business plan including a comprehensive timeline and a great location visible to passing traffic. Early planning helps reduce cases of mistakes and saves you money as discussed at RunRex.com.
- Start your credentialing early
In addition to planning early for your urgent care center, be sure to start your credentialing and contracting, marketing, and EMR/PM software selection 8 to 12 months before your projected opening date as described at RunRex.com.
- Avoid a one-size-fits-all financial plan
As outlined at RunRex.com, your exact start-up costs for your urgent care center will depend on the region in which you are operating. This is why you should avoid a one-size-fits-all financial plan if you want to reduce startup costs.
- Calculate your one-time vs ongoing costs
Start by identifying which of your costs will be one-off and which will occur more frequently, such as monthly, quarterly, or annually as revealed at RunRex.com. This will help you better manage and set up your budget, and organize your cash flow from the outset.
- Have realistic expectations
There are many costs to consider when starting an urgent care practice. Your safest bet is to overestimate both the time and money it takes to start one. Some experts recommend adding at least 10% on top of your total costs to cover any miscellaneous expenses or unforeseen charges.
- Use the cloud to cut costs
Starting your urgent care practice with the cloud can be the ultimate way to save on your medical practice startup costs. This is because it eliminates the cost of servers, expensive hardware, and IT support staff while reducing significant operational costs and driving efficiencies.
- Automation
A major cost for any practice is staffing. Automating and streamlining repetitive tasks can significantly boost efficiency and reduce the time and money wasted on manual or administrative tasks. Consider automated patient booking recalls and reminders.
These are some of the tips that will help you save money opening an urgent care practice, with more on this topic, and so much more, to be found over at RunRex.com.