What Changes Can the DC Expect with Medical Integration?

New Staff:
Hiring new staff is a positive sign of growth, expansion, advancement and success. But this increase in staff number will also escalate your expenses, responsibility, training and management which may be stressful if not done in an organized manner. It is an accepted fact that a newly established integrated medical center will invariably need to hire more staff as it grows and becomes more successful. The real question is: will it be stressful and chaotic or well thought through and pleasurable?

Clinic Size:
Only eight hundred (800) square foot of minimum space has typically been necessary.

Clinic Schedule:
Office hours are mostly the same, except that usually after the first 4-6 months of initial organization, the clinic becomes much busier and requires more hours because of the volume which has increased drastically.

Equipment:
Initially, because of the overall initial investment and managerial expansion of tasks, it is recommended not to purchase any new equipment. Unfortunately, many unscrupulous consultants convince their clients to invest a large sum of money with the misguided expectation that the return on investment (ROI) will be well worth it. What the clients are not often aware of, is that these consultants benefit from substantial financial kickbacks from the equipment suppliers and therefore will try and convince the client to make the purchase as soon as possible.     
Truthfully, it is preferable and highly advisable to purchase equipment only when needed and when the clinic is in a stable financial situation. Just as well it is critical to make sure that the staff will be well trained in the use of the equipment. It is sad to say but, a national review of clinics inventory clearly shows that there are thousands of clinics which have purchased way too many pieces of equipment while never really amortizing the initial cost or even get the full clinical benefits. So about how much equipment will indeed be necessary to operate a successful medical integrated center? The cost will be about $8,000 to about $18,000. Again I advise all my clients, that this money will be necessary only when the clinic is stable financially. I cannot overemphasize, the importance to make sure that the clinic expansion be progressive, calculated and very well planned. This will make the difference between a well-liked center where patients truly feel that the broadening services has been indeed a blessing to everyone both clinically and financially