We all have blind spots …
One that all humans share is a physiological blind spot in each eye.
It’s a natural gap in our vision, because the area where the optic nerve passes through the retina lacks light-detecting photoreceptors.
Under normal conditions, we don’t notice it because the brain fills in the missing gap, along with the visual field of one eye compensating for the blind spot of the other.
Amazing, isn’t it?
Aside from physical blind spots, there are others, including:
- Cultural ones
- Strategic ones
- Technological ones
- Regulatory ones
- Operational ones
- Metaphorical ones
- … and more
These blind spots are areas that cannot be seen or understood from a given perspective. This includes aspects of ourselves that others can see but we can’t, such as biases, thinking patterns, or behaviors.
And here is the amazing thing…
Our brain does the same for us as it does with our visual blind spots: it fills in the gaps, compensating, often in the form of assumptions.
For NP practice owners, blind spots can appear across many different areas, including practice finances, marketing, operations, patient experience, compliance, and decision-making.
Blind spots are a fact of life and business. The problem is that just because you can’t see them, it doesn’t mean they don’t affect your business.
Blind Spots in Your Business
A business blind spot is an area that needs your attention; however, you either don’t recognize it, underestimate it, or assume it’s not a problem.
Here are examples:
- You assume your patients know all the services you offer; however, most don’t, because your website doesn’t clearly explain them and your staff doesn’t talk about them, resulting in lost revenue.
- You’re under the impression that your practice is profitable because there is money in the bank, all the while your expenses are quietly increasing, leaving your practice vulnerable and unstable.
- You put a no-show policy in place and think it’s working. However, the policy is weak and rarely enforced. No-shows and missed appointments are lost revenue.
Blind Spots Hide in Plain Sight!
They may look like small frustrations at first:
- Frequent no-shows and cancellations
- Billing delays
- Denials and non-payments
- Rising supply costs
- Inconsistent staff performance
- Marketing without the expected results
Left alone, these issues can be annoying and quickly become expensive. However, once identified, they can be addressed and resolved.
Do NPs experience more blind spots than other business owners?
I don’t think so, however, since NPs are clinically trained and typically don’t receive much business education, perhaps they do.
Additionally, most practice owners wear too many hats.
From morning to evening, they see patients, answer questions, review labs, manage staff, handle insurance issues, make business decisions, and try to keep everything moving.
When you’re that close to the day-to-day work and operations, sometimes it becomes difficult to step back and see the bigger picture.
Avoiding Discomfort …
Blind spots can also develop when we try to avoid uncomfortable topics.
- If financial reports are unclear or feel confusing, it is easy to put off looking at them.
- If marketing feels uncomfortable and disingenuous, it is tempting to put it off or ignore it altogether.
- If a staff issue feels awkward, it may be easier to stick your head in the sand and hope it improves on its own.
But unfortunately, avoiding something rarely makes it better or disappear. More often than not, the things we avoid only get bigger.
How to Identify Blind Spots?
The tricky thing about blind spots is that, by definition, you don’t know you have them.
However, there are often warning signs, some subtle and some not so subtle.
Here are some indications of potential blind spots in your practice:
- You may be busy, but not every month is profitable.
- Your revenue is inconsistent, and you can’t explain why.
- You avoid reviewing your numbers, and have difficulty keeping up with all expenses.
- Your collections are slow. Patients owe the practice a significant amount of money that some may never pay.
- You feel overwhelmed but cannot pin down the root cause.
One question to ask yourself is this:
Where am I surprised by the results I’m getting?
Feeling surprised by an outcome often points to a blind spot. If you expect a certain result but keep getting another, something deserves a closer look.
How Blind Spots Impact Your Practice
If left unaddressed, blind spots can affect your practice in several ways.
Financially, blind spots can be a drain on your business.
Outdated or poorly designed fee schedules, missed charges, poor billing and collections practices, excessive overhead, or untracked expenses over time will erode your profits.
You may be working hard, seeing patients, and generating revenue, yet still wondering why there is not more money left at the end of the month.
Operationally, blind spots create inconsistency.
Without clear systems in place, your practice must rely on memory, habit, or the constant involvement of a key employee (often the owner!). Inconsistency leads to unnecessary stress, confusion, and preventable mistakes.
Blind spots in marketing may keep your practice invisible.
If people don’t know your practice exists, who you serve, or why they should choose your practice, they may go elsewhere, even if you provide excellent care.
Blind spots in your marketing can prevent you from growing your business and can even make it challenging to keep the doors open.
Blind spots in the patient experience.
Blind spots can also affect the patient experience. Poor scheduling, unclear policies, inconsistent follow-up, and communication can erode trust. Patients may not complain directly, but eventually, they may leave the practice or stop referring others.
Blind spots lead to burnout.
When you have a sense that something isn’t working as it should, but you can’t identify the actual problem, you may try to fix the wrong issue.
Alternatively, you may respond by working harder, adding more hours, and pushing yourself more, without anything truly improving.
How to Deal with Blind Spots
The first step is to slow down long enough to look at your practice as objectively as possible.
Ask yourself:
- What issues keep repeating?
- What do I keep avoiding?
- Where do I feel confused, frustrated, or surprised?
- What problems seem to come back no matter how many times I address them?
Next, look at your numbers; they often give you a clearer picture, one not distorted by emotions.
Review your monthly revenue, expenses, profit, cash flow, patient volume, no-shows, collections, and marketing results. If you don’t currently track these numbers, start collecting the data.
If possible, get outside input, get another perspective. Others can often see what we cannot.
Once you identify a blind spot and find a solution, turn it into a system.
That could be as simple as creating a monthly financial review process, a patient onboarding checklist, a no-show follow-up process, a marketing calendar, a written policy, or a set routine for reviewing the billing.
Finally, make checking for blind spots part of your regular business reviews.
Once a quarter, ask yourself: What is working? What’s not working? What am I avoiding? What has changed in the last 90 days? What needs attention before it turns into a bigger problem?
It’s About Progress, Not Perfection …
Blind spots don’t mean you or your practice are failing. They simply point out areas in your practice that need more attention and can be improved.
Once you identify a blind spot, you can make better decisions, put more effective systems in place, protect your revenue and profit, reduce stress, and create a more stable business for yourself and your family.
In other words, blind spots are an opportunity to improve things in your business!
What are the blind spots in your practice, and what have you done about them? Let us know, leave your answer below …
By Johanna Hofmann, MBA, MAc., regular contributor to the NPBusiness blog and author of “Smart Business Planning for Clinicians.”