Health e Practices: The Organization Helping Physicians Manage the Stress of Doing Business

The more we learn about stress’s impact on the human body, the more alarming it becomes. From weakened immunity to cardiovascular damage, it’s clear that chronic, untreated stress does permanent damage, even when a person appears high-functioning.

Something similar happens to a medical practice when stressors like cash flow problems pile up. Under the surface, a busy practice’s inefficiencies can strain it to the breaking point.

Keeping these practices chugging along smoothly is the raison d’être for Health e Practices, a consulting and revenue cycle management organization led by CEO Jill Arena, based out of Oswego, Oregon. Jill boasts 26 years of self-employment experience, and her company has helped more than 100 practices successfully undergo a full financial turnaround.

Health e Practices sits right at the core of a complex and overwhelming industry, helping prop up the people who keep us healthy. That’s why Business Impact NW was proud to help Jill’s organization recently cover some operating expenses and add a new Director of Marketing position with a loan.

So, what makes a medical practice healthy?

It’s not what you might expect. Health e Practices described in a recent blog post that many simple metrics, like total visits and total collections, can present an overly rosy picture.

The things that really matter are more complex: data points like provider capacity utilization and staffing cost per visit that signal not only how things are going right now, but how they’re likely to go in the future if nothing changes.

To help physician practices improve these metrics and stay sustainable, the company offers a variety of services that fall into three main categories, or “verticals”:

1. Consulting (including leadership transitions and financial turnarounds)
2. Revenue cycle management (what Jill calls “urgent care for accounts receivables”)
3. Education in areas like medical billing, coding, and general business skills.

Jill emphasized that the healthcare reimbursement structure really takes the cake for complexity, largely due to coding issues.

“We can see that 80% of office visits around the country are under-coded, meaning that the physician is not giving themself enough credit,” Jill explains. “So, the insurance companies are keeping a lot of money. These companies will also put out scare tactics, like ‘if you over-code, we’ll come after you.’”

Tackling the healthcare industry’s problems from every direction

There’s no quick fix for the U.S. healthcare system (understatement of the millennium). However, there are countless ways to make things a little easier for physicians, and Jill’s organization is constantly adding new services and training to help prevent them from falling through the system’s cracks.

For example, the organization’s “Code Mastery” program taught by medical director Anne Hirsch, MD helps doctors code more accurately so that they’re less likely to leave loads of money on the table.

The “Physician’s Edge” program functions as a sort of “mini-MBA” for physicians seeking to master business skills, and it counts towards continuing medical education credit. For those looking for more passive education options, there’s a weekly podcast called Medical Money Matters.

Health e Practices can function as an outsourced billing department, but it also helps practices bring outsourced billing back in-house. Whatever the problem or concern, the company is ready to be a grounding presence and help guide doctors and their organizations through the rough patches.

Balancing cash flow with a loan from Business Impact NW

To continue supporting physician practices to the maximum possible degree, Health e Practices needed a small amount of support itself. There were some operating expenses, and there was a bit of debt that needed to be repackaged.

Jill got a loan from Business Impact NW this spring. This not only helped with the operating expenses, but also got the company “poised for the next level of growth.” Among other things, Health e Practices added a Director of Marketing.

Theo Ransum was the loan officer who helped her.

“He was a rockstar!” says Jill. “So great to work with, very easy, very communicative. I’ve been self-employed for 26 years, and I’ve had different experiences with SBA loans. This was by far one of the best!”

The next goal: Gaining a presence in all 50 states

There aren’t really any companies out there quite like Health e Practices. In fact, Jill couldn’t think of a single one focusing on small- to medium-sized practices that offers the same breadth of services.

“Some mega-corporations like Deloitte might do most of what we do, but we’re not a mega-corporation. We’re a smaller organization, we’re pretty agile, we’re not as expensive. We’re pretty accessible. Our target is groups of 5-20 docs, but we’ll also work with groups of 300 or just one.”

The company is heavy in the Pacific Northwest, but Jill wants to be in every single state.

“We belong everywhere, and there’s something in it for every practice.”

At Business Impact NW, we’re rooting for Health e Practices to achieve this goal. When physician practices are healthy, access to healthcare improves for everyone.

Looking for funding support for your own small business? Business Impact NW can help. Learn more about our loan options and how to apply.