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Many private practices face the same problem. Reimbursement rates are flat, fixed costs continue to rise, and most patients expect more from every visit than current billing structures allow. Practices that rely only on volume reach their limit quickly. Adding more patients increases pressure on staff and shortens the amount of time available for each appointment. Expanding hours, hiring more people, or raising prices are not always realistic options.
A more practical way to grow is by offering more value during the visits you already provide. If you are considering how to grow your private practice, start by restructuring annual wellness appointments to include bundled diagnostic screenings. This approach allows your clinic to generate more income, identify risk earlier, and maintain a consistent workflow without major changes to how the practice operates.
Why Standard Visit Structures Fall Short
Most wellness visits are underutilized. Patients receive brief assessments and leave without much insight. Physicians check vitals, review a few symptoms, and order isolated labs if anything seems off. This process misses opportunities to detect early-stage conditions and does little to improve long-term care.
If you are looking at how to grow your private practice, start by making these visits count. When they include grouped diagnostic screenings that evaluate multiple organ systems at once, both clinical outcomes and billing potential improve. Instead of waiting for symptoms, you rely on data. Instead of offering individual add-ons, you include a consistent set of tests as part of the visit.
What Should Be Included
A bundled diagnostic screening panel should focus on common but often-overlooked issues. The goal is not to test everything, it is to cover the basics that produce actionable information. A functional screening group might include:
- Kidney function (eGFR, creatinine, BUN)
- Liver function (ALT, AST, bilirubin)
- Thyroid levels (TSH, T3, T4)
- Cardiovascular risk markers (lipid panel, hs-CRP)
- Blood glucose and HbA1c
- Basic metabolic panel
These labs are familiar, approved for preventive use, and require no new systems to implement. They also give you a broader picture of a patient’s health than basic vital signs and symptom checklists.
Integrate These Screenings into Existing Visits
You do not need to create a separate appointment type or route patients through a different workflow. These screenings can be ordered during the visit and processed through your regular lab vendor. No new equipment is required. No new staff needs to be hired. No scheduling template needs to be rewritten.
If you are thinking about how to grow your private practice without disrupting operations, this method fits into what you already do. The visit stays the same on the surface. Intake, consultation, and exam proceed as usual. During the exam, you explain that the visit includes a set of lab panels to check for early signs of organ dysfunction or metabolic imbalance. These are part of the physical, not an optional extra.
This approach avoids confusion and eliminates the need for patients to choose tests individually. It also ensures more patients receive consistent screenings.
Explaining the Visit to Patients
Most patients expect their annual visit to include a quick review, a few basic checks, and general advice. Some assume lab work will be included but rarely know what that means. If you are thinking about how to grow your private practice, start by improving how these visits are structured. Presenting a fixed set of screenings as part of the visit removes doubt and sets a clear expectation.
If you want to grow your private practice, this kind of clarity makes a difference. Patients who understand the value of the visit are more likely to follow through and return. Consistency is key to growing your practice without needing to increase volume.
Keep the explanation short and direct. Let the patient know the physical includes standard checks for heart health, kidney and liver function, thyroid levels, and blood sugar. If anything is found early, it can be addressed before it becomes harder to manage. Most patients will accept this because it feels complete and reasonable.
Preparing Staff to Stay Consistent
Patients will only trust the process if the message is clear at every point. That means the front desk, the medical assistant, and the physician must all describe the visit the same way. Everyone needs to understand that this is part of the standard appointment, not an optional service.
If your goal is to grow your private practice, this kind of consistency matters. It improves patient confidence and keeps your team aligned, both of which are necessary for growing your practice in a steady, sustainable way.
You do not need formal training. A short team meeting and a written reference sheet are usually enough. Use weekly check-ins or quick huddles to reinforce the message and answer questions. Once everyone understands the language and the process, it becomes part of the routine.
What to Watch and Adjust
After the first few weeks, review your data. Look at how many patients completed the full set of screenings. Track how many results led to follow-up care. Calculate how the reimbursement totals compare to earlier wellness visits that did not include bundled labs.
These results give you insight into what supports your effort to grow your private practice and what may need adjustment. If one screening is consistently left out, reinforce the order set in your EHR. If patients ask the same questions repeatedly, the explanation may need to be clearer. Small changes like these are part of growing your practice in a way that stays consistent over time.
What You Do Not Need
Adding bundled screenings does not require a major shift in how your clinic operates. The core of your workflow stays in place. What changes is how you use the time and resources you already have.
- You do not need to build a new model from scratch.
- You do not need to market this as a separate service.
- You do not need new software, equipment, or staff.
- You do not need to restructure how your clinic runs.
This is not an add-on. It is a better use of the visit you have already offered. The workflow stays intact, and the results improve.
Conclusion
To grow a private practice, you don’t always have to do more. Sometimes, it means making the most of the time you have to do the right things. When you bundle diagnostic tests, you can provide better care, make more money, and keep your workflow steady.
This method fits in with the way things are set up now. More value is given to patients. Your group does better work than others. The habit gets stronger in a way that lasts. With a single, structured solution made for yearly wellness visits, HG Analytics helps clinics set up full diagnostic screenings and offers the Advanced Physicals Program to help clinics integrate these screenings without disrupting daily operations. Let experts show you how it works in clinics with real results if you want to make more money without making things more difficult.
