When an eye health practitioner takes the plunge by starting their own practice, it requires courage and a crystal-clear plan, writes KAREN CROUCH. 

Practitioners engaged in group practices – or contractors, employees and licensees – often contemplate establishing their own practice at some point in their careers. It’s an exciting and rewarding prospect, but can be equally daunting as challenges arise. 

Turning your mind to starting a clinic of your own often requires self-analysis and a mind shift. You’ll be going from predominantly a healthcare provider – with relatively limited responsibility for administration or people management – to managing business, people, suppliers and marketing, with responsibilities for good clinical and corporate governance in additional to your role as a healthcare provider.

Set-ups typically involve numerous tasks and may be daunting, requiring a significant time investment to oversee progress while making key decisions on items that practitioners have limited experience with. 

And, of course, meticulously planned, overarching project management throughout the months-long implementation period is paramount.

Matters requiring personal experience or familiarity range from business planning, legal, premises selection, design, construction, finance, technology and communications, office and medical equipment and other matters such as signage, security, waste management, website (marketing) and recruitment of personnel (staff and clinical). 
The new venture, properly orchestrated from start-up to ongoing management, can be rewarding, provided plans are in place to ensure quality patient services while administrative and clinical “practice business” functions operate efficiently, cost effectively and in synergy with personal healthcare objectives of the owners.

Once preliminaries have been completed to the practitioner’s satisfaction, several other start-up aspects of practice and business management come into play. Several of those, mentioned below, will be the subject of future articles in this three-part series.

Preliminaries – laying the ground

Before deciding to start a practice, certain prerequisites are recommended:

• Business plan and feasibility study –  a ‘road map’ of the owners’ plans for the venture, including financial analysis (staff, estimated patient volumes, revenue, expenses) to determine breakeven points and profitability (reward for owners’ endeavours). It will also support loan applications and ultimately provide a detailed budget for first-year operations and beyond;

• Business structure – essential for securing premises, finance and practice operations. Be careful not to miss the perfect premises due to absence of an appropriate business structure as the ‘entity’ is likely to purchase/lease premises and apply for finance;

• Area/premises selection – while the business plan details pertinent aspects of practice goals, target patient segments, identification of the best physical premises requires demographic research of local statistics – age, ethnic makeup, income levels, demand, competition – to determine whether the planned services fit the target area. Exploring site options and assessment is the next step. Legal aspects and negotiating skills play an important role in securing the best deals;

• Finance approval – the aforementioned feasibility study and business plan is required by financiers.

These actions will give aspiring new owners greater confidence in viability and likelihood of success, secure funding and ensure the new venture is afforded every opportunity to succeed. 

Summary 

Practitioners should carry out a self-analysis and be confident they have the appetite to make the transition from healthcare provider to business owner and manager. Once you’ve got that mental shift in place, detailed, well thought-out plans will assist to establish a strong underpinning from which to launch the new clinic. 

The myriad of requirements will ensure the practice is ready to go from day one.  Success will hinge on selection of qualified, experienced suppliers and meticulous project planning to ensure tasks are performed in order, on time/budget, and in accordance with project plans.

Part 2 of this article will focus on how to implement basic business services – and contain references to the third part of this article series.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Karen Crouch is Managing Director of Health Practice Creations Group, a company that assists with practice set ups, administrative, legal, business and financial management. Contact Karen on 0433 233 478 e-mail kcrouch@hpcnsw.com.au or visit www.hpcgroup.com.au.

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