In the past few weeks, I have been helping my practices solve what I believe to be a good problem: an abundance of new patients.

A healthy podiatry practice treats at least 20% new patients a month. With scheduling rules and a methodically planned appointment calendar, there should not be an issue with maximizing each encounter.

But, what if that 20 percent becomes 25 or 30 or more??!

Maybe you are in an area with mostly hospital-employed DPMs who are scheduling out new patients for months. Or, perhaps your online marketing strategy combined with a boost in recent reviews is making the phone ring off the hook!

Both scenarios are great for the practice, but can be problematic if you are not prepared.

First, look closely at your schedule and see how it can be adjusted to accommodate more new patients (without creating chaos or running 30 minutes behind)- search “2 column scheduler” in the PPA library for tips….
After that, determine if your support staff is trained well enough to keep you moving and to perform all of the tasks that don’t require podiatry school or residency training (remote training sessions are available along with one on one coaching for PEP members at a discounted rate).
If your team is up to par, the third step is to hire, train and cross-train additional support staff (in the office and/or remotely).

Treating more new patients should not only increase your overall revenue, but your PVV as well (if not, refer back to the steps above and contact me for help).