In today’s economy, small businesses are finding it harder and harder to just survive far less thrive. And poor decisions that impact the bottom line could be the difference between turning a profit and closing up shop. That’s where accurate and timely statistics come in.

A business owner needs constant access to their business’ metrics–from snapshots of the consumer market to the success of certain products or promotions–to make the decisions that steer the business in the right direction. Running a shop on instinct no longer suffices.

The first thing you need to do is determine what metrics most accurately reflect the state of your business. If you’re note sure what those are or should be, consulting firms that specialize in your type of business can outline metrics for you.

Secondly, you need to determine the best way to capture those metrics in a succinct yet accurate way. Many business owners don’t use the full capabilities of their current computer system, so there might be a way to retrieve those metrics through your current system. Otherwise, you could use something as basic as a spreadsheet to organize collected data and develop formulas to give you other necessary statistics.

Lastly, you must have constant access to your metrics so you can analyze the data regularly to help you make important business decisions. These metrics will not only help you understand the current state your business is in, they will also allow you to measure the impact on your business of decisions you’ve made.

Most booming businesses don’t operate on statistics alone, but statistics are certainly a key factor in their success. Manage the numbers, don’t let them manage you!

Read more on the importance of statistics in management decision making. Photo above from that story in the Houston Chronicle.

Listen to Pat talk about Medkita in his interview with Miami’s Sid Rosenberg on January 12th, 2012.

Medicare providers have been holding their breath, waiting to see if Medicare reimbursement will be cut 27.4 percent and if the cap exception for therapy providers will be eliminated—a devastating blow that could leave most providers unwilling to accept Medicare.

Thankfully, Legislation that delays that decision until at least February 29, 2012, was passed last month. It’s almost like a Chinese fire drill: this issue has arisen every year for the past few years and luckily has never come to fruition. But we’re all afraid that one of these years, it might actually become a reality.

So, what should we do to prepare for what many believe is this inevitable occurrence?

• First and foremost, you should take steps to make sure your practice is operating efficiently and as “lean and mean” as possible. That means making sure you get the right reimbursement, collecting what’s due from insurers and patients, and converting every potential patient opportunity into a patience encounter.

• Secondly, try to diversify your patient population by becoming a participating provider for as many networks as you can to increase your non-Medicare patient mix. That way, Medicare cuts won’t cripple your business.

• Thirdly, review all your payor contracts to ensure they’re current and renegotiate reimbursement terms wherever possible.

• Lastly, try to leverage your own service providers (i.e. medical suppliers, office suppliers, etc.), to give you better rates or provide bulk discounts wherever they can.

Remember, your past formula for success may not work in today’s economic environment. As Babe Ruth said “Yesterdays home runs don’t win today’s games.” Take steps today to make your business successful tomorrow!

Contact: Debbie Lindabery . 610-220-3702
debbie@medkita.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Former Philadelphia 76ers president Pat Croce re-enters physical therapy world with Medkita
As a PT veteran and former owner of his own highly successful multi-state sports medicine practice, Croce aims to help PT practices run efficiently and profitably

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (January 4, 2012) — Pat Croce pioneered sports medicine in the 1980s, building an empire of 40 centers across the U.S. before pursuing other passions. But his heart never left the field. And now he’s back—to help others succeed.

“PT has been my heart for a long time; it’s where I got my start. And frankly it’s hard to watch so many businesses falter thanks to the economy,” Croce said. “That’s the catalyst for my new business venture.”

That new venture is Medkita, a physical therapy consulting company created to help PT practices improve their business’ efficiency and increase profits in a challenging economy that’s changed the healthcare game. With its revolutionary Clinic Efficiency Assessment, Medkita evaluates operations by focusing on the 5 C’s of profit management—Costs, Coding, Collections, Compliance, and Customer Service—and recommends and helps implement solutions that are key to the clinic’s survival and success.

“These businesses are operating in a time of decreased reimbursement, increased expenses, exhaustive paperwork, and competition, and they’re watching profits disappear,” Croce said. “It shouldn’t have to happen!”

Led by CEO Debbie Lindabery, PT — a leader in outpatient management, clinical services, compliance and therapy billing for the past 22 years — Medkita offers a unique perspective to PT practices with vast expertise and experience in streamlining business operations, billing, and patient care while significantly reducing costs and increasing revenue.

“Our main goal is to help these practices reach their highest potential so they can take their physical therapy practice to the next level,” Lindabery said. “We’re so confident we can help clinics make or save at least the cost of the CEA, if we don’t, the clinic won’t have to pay. How’s that for a win-win?”
ABOUT MEDKITA
Medkita is a physical therapy consulting company with over 5 decades combined experience in outpatient physical therapy that specializes in the establishment, improvement and management of outpatient physical therapy clinics, and maximizing the success of physical therapy practices nationwide. Its revolutionary Clinic Efficiency Assessment (CEA) focuses on the 5 C’s of practice management: Coding, Collections, Customer Service, Costs and Compliance. For more information on Medkita, visit www.medkita.com

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Contact information: Kari Cobham, Pat Croce & Co., 12 S Castillo Drive, St. Augustine, FL 32084

If you’re like most of us, you probably think you’re pretty efficient in most aspects of your life. Whether it’s running a business or running a household (which at times I think is even harder!), you think you do a pretty darn good job. But on the other hand, in between reconciling daily receipts more easily or trying to figure out how not to scramble every morning to get the kids on the bus, aren’t there times when you think “There’s got to be a better way!?” We’d be kidding ourselves if we thought there wasn’t something in our lives that could use a little tweaking.

I don’t know about you, but I would welcome the opportunity to have someone come into my business or home and give me tips on how to run things more efficiently. I could only benefit from such an experience by either learning better ways to perform daily tasks or by validating my beliefs that I am indeed already doing things well. Oh, how nice that would be!

But how do you go about doing this?

First, you look for those who specialize in your type of business http://s132344.gridserver.com/services.php. Second, you make sure that the engagement will involve a relatively small monetary risk on your part, but potentially yield a large gain. Lastly, you ask yourself, what do you have to lose? Your answer should be nothing, so what are you waiting for?

Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.

That’s the key to a successful business, especially in the current economic environment. Your business can probably stay afloat despite inefficiencies that exist in current operations, but if you want to thrive and be even more successful, you’ll need your business to run at peak efficiency in every aspect.

When we talk about efficiency, we’re talking mainly about processes and people. Efficiency of one without efficiency of the other equals inefficiency. You might employ the best people in the world, but if the processes they’re performing are inefficient, the results will be sub-optimal. Conversely, you might have the best processes possible, but if the people performing them are incompetent, the results will also be sub-optimal.

In most instances, it’s the processes that are the problem, not the people. Whether we’re talking about an outpatient physical therapy company (Medkita) or another type of business, profitability is directly proportional to efficiency. It often takes an outside, objective party to identify the inefficiencies that occur day in and day out.

Refinement of one simple process could produce an instant increase in revenue, so imagine how refinement of many processes could improve your profitability! Every business could use a fresh set of eyes to offer a new perspective. Couldn’t yours?

Medkita had the great opportunity last week, to exhibit at the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society’s Annual meeting in Philadelphia. It was a perfect fit for us as the theme of this year’s annual meeting was “Increasing Efficiencies and Safety in Orthopaedic Practice or How to Survive/Thrive in the Era of Healthcare Reform”. Physical therapy is one of the main ancillary services for many orthopedic practices. Given the opportunity, Medkita could be a huge asset to many orthopaedic practices if they would let us assess the efficiency of their PT practices with our Clinic Efficiency Assessment “CEA”. They would be amazed by the money they’re leaving on the table as evidenced by the assessment we perform on their clinic(s). Hopefully, the orthopaedists whom we spoke to will decide to take the bull by the horns and engage Medkita to bring their PT practice to the next level.

There’s been a lot of talk about healthcare reform and cuts to Medicare and Medicaid services, changes that make it more critical than ever for healthcare providers to take steps to make sure they’re operating at peak efficiency.

Don’t quite believe it yet? Check out this recent New York Times article about how cuts are forcing healthcare providers to become more efficient. Scary, right?

Now ask yourself this question: is my practice running as efficiently as possible? That’s where we come in. Medkita can answer that question for you! We’ll come into your practice and do a Clinic Efficiency Assessment (CEA) that’ll show you where your efficiencies and inefficiencies dwell.

We’ve spent decades in the industry, so we know forking out money isn’t always easy, especially in this economy. But we promise you this: If we don’t improve your profits to at least the cost of the CEA, you don’t owe us a thing.

Let’s combat those federal healthcare cuts together!

We’re so excited to announce the launch of Medkita’s website today!

As a medical practice consulting firm specializing in outpatient physical therapy, our value is particularly critical since healthcare premiums will be rising significantly in 2012 and consumers will be even more hesitant to pay for medical services.

Customer service, patient care, and treatment outcomes are top priority for physical therapy practices, especially with competition. But it’s also important to remain profitable to be able to stay in business and administer those effective treatments.

Medkita has over five decades of experience in the physical therapy industry. Our goal is to make outpatient physical therapy practices more profitable while they provide the best patient care possible. It’s a challenging economic and healthcare environment out there; we just want your physical therapy practice to succeed!