Improving Your Practice

Six months after opening

Refine your office systems
Now that you have more business experience, review your procedures and systems to see whether they are still working in your practice. These may include dispensary replenishment, opening and closing procedures, payment procedures and others. This is also a good time to create a policies and procedures manual to help train future staff (create this with the "busy clinic" scenario in mind), and review it every six months.

Consider creating a patient survey
Redesigning your clinic requires a thorough knowledge of your own patients and their habits. You want to make the environment accessible without alienating your patients (or your fellow practitioners) – but sometimes change can be a good thing. An anonymous patient survey can assist you in this regard – oftentimes, a patient will point out something that you haven’t seen or considered, such as chipped paint in the corner of a wall or an unnecessarily loud reception phone ringer. Though they may seem minor, fix the things that your patients find off-putting about your practice and let them know in your newsletter or on your website. Patients appreciate this gesture and it further cultivates their loyalty towards you.

There are always strategies and methods to improve your business and enhance the clinical experience for your patients. Maybe you’re thinking about opening another clinic or teaching part time. Perhaps you want to hire more practitioners or overhaul your office systems. Expanding your naturopathic practice should not come at the cost of retaining your patients and staff.