As you think of your Nurse Practitioner owned business and practice, consider these thoughts.

One of the challenges for any practice is collecting payments from payers, including our patients. However, most practices do not utilize all the options available to them.

On Sunday June 13th, we will be talking with Nurse Practitioner Carolyn Zaumeyer. She has combined her expertise in Independent Practice and Patient Payment Options – which will be the topic of our discussion.  Carolyn’s goal is to help you along the way to success in your practice which means, showing you ways to keep more of your hard earned money.

She has authored two books on Independent Practice for Nurse Practitioners. She has also written over 27 publications and has given over 73 presentations at national and international conferences.  Zaumeyer is a pioneer in the field, establishing and operating her own Women’s Health Watch, in Ft. Lauderdale in the early 90′s.

You are invited to join us on Sunday June 13, 2010 @ 5pm Pacific, to evesdrop on our conversation, ask your own questions, and expand your knowledge about the business of practice.

If you have not been receiving our notices for these interviews, sign up at www.NPInterviews.com to receive your special link to this interview.

Nurse Practitioner Business Owner, hosted “Getting Started in your OWN Practice” teleseminar on Sunday April 25, 2010. There were RECORD numbers of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants in attendance.  The questions sent in before and during the event were fantastic. I did not get a chance to answer all the questions, but watch this blog for updates and answers to questions.

If you missed it, you can listen to it here:  www.nursepractitionerbusinessowner.com/startupsystem-replay.html

On this teleseminar, we introduced the NPBO™ Practice Startup System Program which starts Wednesday May 5th. I’m so excited to be actually teaching this course – I’ve had so many requests for something like this, and I believe it will make a huge difference for the NPs that are already participating! You’re invited to check it out, but you’ll want to do so before May 1st at 12 midnight Pacific (hint: the special pricing ends then).

Hope you’ll join us on May 5, 2010!

A Nurse Practitioner recently asked how location could be important when looking at creating a clinic for people with low income. I think it makes a huge difference.

When you are creating services for people, regardless of their socio-economic, culture, language status or ability, you will want to make sure you were addressing their particular needs. Thus location can be vital. You’ll want to ask yourself the following questions.

1. Will your intended clients have access to the clinic? If they are likely to use public transportation, is it located near a bus or light rail stop?
2. Is the clinic located in their neighborhood? Does it feel familiar and safe?
3. Is this in a location where your intended clients hang out?
4. If they are driving to the clinic, does it have adequate parking for able bodied as well as disabled people? Is it well lit and safe?
5. While not location dependent, consider as well cultural and language differences. Most often this will come into consideration when looking at neighborhoods, but may extend beyond those bounds as well.

A clinic that is in an area that is hard to reach, and unfamiliar neighborhood, or is inconvenient will less likely draw in the intended population. When you wish to be in service to a particular population of people, you must be considerate of their needs and desires.

Thus, location and can, and does make all the difference in the world. Regardless of the population you are serving.

A common concern of practice owners, especially with the real and potential cuts in reimbursement is “How can I generate more revenue?”  The topic is discussed not-to-infrequent in the NPBO™ forum, on health care provider social media groups and the subject of questions I receive in my in box.

On Thursday 4/22/2010, we will be talking about practice revenue with NPBO™ Members on our monthly Practice & Business Issues teleseminar. Open to current members of NPBO only, it will begin promptly at 5pm Pacific. You can check your timezone at www.Time.gov.

Not a member? Visit www.NursePractitionerBusinessOwner.com to find out more.

Have you every wondered what it takes to have your very own, independent Nurse Practitioner practice?

Since 2006, I have received questions from Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants on this very topic. For example:  How do I start my own practice? How do I get patients into my practice? How do I find a collaborating physician? How do I get paid? These are just a few of the many questions that I receive in my in-box, voice mail or snail mail box on a weekly basis – and it’s impossible to answer each and every one of them individually.

So on Sunday April 25th, I’m going to attempt to answer as many questions as I possibly can on this topic while I take you step by step on what you need to do in order to start your own practice.  We’ll talk about doing an analysis, credentialing, getting paid, marketing, operations and more!

Want to know more about this no-charge teleseminar? Watch the video and then sign up.

Disasters come in all shapes and sizes. They usually strike when least expected, often times without any warning (earthquake) and sometimes with (hurricane). Either way, we often find ourselves, our homes and our businesses vulnerable.

Disaster planning is something that tends to be put on the back burner…after all, it’s never going to happen to us, right? Wrong. It does, and we need to be prepared for that “never gonna happen” event.

Making a disaster plan is really just a business plan for disasters. Here are a few things to address:

1. Take a look at everything in your office. Think about what would happen if it was not available. What would you do? How would you continue?
2. How will you communicate and take care of your employees?
3. Payroll…it’s gotta happen. Are you using a payroll service that is off site that will be able to generate that paycheck?
4. Is there an alternative site you can operate if your building is unsuitable? Perhaps you can work something out with another provider with the idea you can each use the others space in order to keep you business going.
5. Where will you be able to get equipment and supplies? Have all sorts of alternatives listed…everyone in your neighborhood may be headed for the local supply house for computers, etc.
6. Data: Back up your charts and practice management system regularly and store it off site. Consider storing it several miles away…say 50-100 miles. If you entire town floods, having a copy in your house may not help you.
7. Video tape your office – include all equipment, furnishings and supplies. Consider giving a copy of the tape to your insurance agent, as well as storing a copy off site (see #5 above) as well as a copy for your files. (This is a great idea for your home as well).

You can get more free information, including templates to make your plans at http://www.Ready.gov .

Nurse Practitioners entrepreneurs are often faced with negotiating some sort of contract be it for services, supplies or collaboration. While there are plenty of books and courses available to sharpen your negotiation skills, Tim Berry recently posted “Three Simple but Powerful Rules for Negotiation” that helps bring this to a simple but elegant solution.

• How does it feel to be them? Basically Berry is suggesting you put yourself in their shoes. While I understand what he is saying and basically agree with it, I’d also caution you to consider where they are coming from, and what information and “baggage” you each bring to the table.
• Find the Win-Win. I definitely agree with this. In my world, the only way we can move forward is to have a win-win-win for everyone involved. In my mind, it’s the only authentic and honorable way to be.
• Negotiate before the contract, not with the contract. In my mind, the whole idea of a contract is to put in writing what each of you has agreed to, therefore it makes sense to get all the haggling out of the way before you sit down with a contract to sign.

As always, you’ll want to review things with your own legal counsel to make sure your bases are covered. Certainly by approaching it with the intention of win-win-win…they will be.

One of the metrics Nurse Practitioner business owners need to pay attention to has to do with the cost of business. In terms of your business or practice, you’ll want to know what it cost you to see a patient.

It is vital for you to know this information so you can assess the cost effectiveness of seeing patients under certain plans (you might find some insurers pay less than the cost of care), it helps you determine what is a fair cash rate, and helps you set your budget.

In order to figure your cost-per-patient you need to gather some data. You will need your monthly cost to operate your office. Once you have this information, you will divide this by the number of patients you are seeing each month.

Include in your monthly cost items such as: your lease/mortgage, all utilities including phone/fax/internet, service contracts such as cleaning, medical waste disposal, copier service and shredding services if you use them. Don’t forget medical supplies, office supplies, staff salaries and taxes and any benefits you are paying as well insurances, licenses, advertising, etc.

Figuring out your cost per patient is vital. You cannot make intelligent decisions about your operating cost nor can you adequately evaluate a proposed insurance contract.

Knowledge is not only power, it’s business survival.

There are many reasons for having a business plan. Many Nurse Practitioners think of a business plan as a long, arduous document that you take to a bank or other financial institution or investor in order to secure funding for your business. However, there are other reasons, perhaps even more important, that make a business plan essential.

A business plan for your business and practice helps guide you and give you focus on your goals and aspirations. It’s your road map if you will.

Enter One Page Business Plans. Jim Horan is the author of OPBP. He has developed a easy to follow template of writing your plans in ONE page. I like it because it’s easy to tell at a glance what you are doing, remind you of your goals, and allows you to update it very easily. In a sense, it’s a mind map of your company.

This template is easy. There are five key areas you will want to consider and address. The tighter your statements, more specific you goals and action steps, the more useful this document will be.

What are the areas?

• Vision
• Mission
• Objectives
• Strategies
• Plans

While this Horan is focused on using this system for business plans, I see no reason why one cannot transfer this system to their personal lives. Indeed, use it for all your goals.

For further information, check out Horan’s books. His first book, will give you an overview and great place to get started. He’s also written about business plans for non profits, among others.

Give this a try and let us know how it’s working for you.