By Rachael Click, OD
Sept. 28, 2016
To grow your practice, you need to add staff, both professional and support staff. Financially, thisis a balancing act. You want to optimize your ability to see more patients, but you also want to keep your payroll expenses in check. My practice is currently exercising a strategic growth plan. We are adding employees to achieve our goal.
I use a financial model of $150,000 in revenues per full-time employee. My growth plan for 2016 is based on a 20-25 percent increase in revenues.
If your work space is too small then you physically don’t have the room to handle growth or additional technology. So, this year we doubled the optical square footage in our office, and added an exam lane and an auxiliary testing room for our new Optomap Daytona and OCT. The expanded space was complete in April. We have since added one more optical technician, and are currently interviewing for one more team member. We are seeking an employee who could serve as both a clinic technician and a front desk associate.
Research from the Management and Business Academy, showing staffing levels according to practice size. Dr. Click uses a financial model of $150,000 in revenue per full-time employee.
Expanded Staff Means Expanded Patient Care
I have an associate who is working part time currently, but is actively working toward a full-time position by the holidays, around the time I expect to begin my maternity leave, as I am currently expecting my first child.
Our plan is that when I am on maternity leave the associate will be here full time, and will continue as full time when I return to work. I plan on being in the office five days a week, but hope that I can have some flexibility in my schedule the first couple of months after I return to work.
The expansion has allowed us to grow revenues 15-20 percent without any marketing.We had a decrease in our final profit during the final phase of the construction project and moving into the new space, but our final profit percentage is now at, and exceeding, what it was before the additional space was created.
Since we have completed all moving and training with the additional space, our receipts are up 21 percent. At this time, the additional staff have not cost the practice any more, meaning my payroll percentages have remained the same.
Part of the preparation for hiring additional staff is trying to do controlled growth because of my maternity leave. I am not afraid to be over-staffed by an employee, as it can allow us to do more marketing and better service, but I don’t want to be so over-staffed that I have to do a temporary staff furlough during maternity leave.
Check Your Metrics Before Hiring
There are several things that I look at when determining when to add new staff. The easiest one is that I try to keep payroll at 18-24 percent of gross. I also look at staff productivity per hour. Ideally, I keep that number around $100/hour. I also look at the schedule demand and morale of the office. So, when I see that payroll is at 18 percent, productivity is >$110/hour, and the demand is high, then I hire another person.
Also, when I determine what value a new staff member will bring I try to use the benchmark of $150,000 in receipts per full-time staff equivalent. I can the compare this against the receipts goal for the year to see how the new staff member will help contribute to that goal.
Increase Production & Quality of Care
We have hired additional optical and are interviewing for the front desk/technician. This will allow us to have multiple people working in any given area of the production cycle at the same time. We will continue to cross-train to manage growth, paid time off, and any practice management challenges that arise. We are also developing and defining a new role for practice director.
We are trying to keep our foundation of good customer service, specialized care, and living our mission stronger. There comes a point where being short-staffed due to whatever reason causes you to not be able to service patients with the highly customized value you strive for.
Rachael Click, OD, is the owner of Preferred EyeCare Center in Mount Pleasant, S.C. To contact her: drclick@preferredeyecarecenter.com.
