Physician Practice Management

What is physician practice management?

Physician practice management refers to the process of managing the day-to-day business operations of a medical practice or physician practice. This can include managing finances, staffing, and technology. Some elements of physician practice management include:

  • Scheduling patient appointments.
  • Handling billing for patient services.
  • Following up on patient billing.

Physician practice management also includes tasks that are broader in scope, such as developing and implementing marketing campaigns for the practice and managing budgets between different areas of the practice. 

From a traditional managerial perspective, physician practice management includes supervising existing staff members and training and hiring new staff as needed.

Physician practice management professionals may be hired individually, similar to hiring a manager for any other type of business, or a physician practice may choose to use an administrative services organization that accomplishes the same goal but with a slightly different organizational hierarchy.

Why is physician practice management important in healthcare?

Physician practices need to manage their resources and operations efficiently in order to provide quality patient care, comply with regulations, and remain financially viable. Physician practice management handles both every day and bigger-picture non-medical tasks of a physician practice to ensure the business or physician group is profitable and runs smoothly, allowing physicians to work with patients more effectively and efficiently.