What is a Gap Analysis and how can it benefit my medical business?

As a doctor and owner of a medical practice, you are trained to deliver specialist healthcare, not to run a business. Nevertheless, you are responsible for all areas of your business: HR, finances, compliance, IT, strategy and performance – which can be daunting. 

It’s not uncommon for your practice to experience organic growth that you haven’t prepared for. Growth is positive, but perhaps you feel like you’re chasing your tail trying to keep up with demands. You may feel that areas of your business could be working more optimally, but you’re not sure exactly what or how. This experience is common among doctor owners. 

Our checklist, ‘Check the health of your practice’, outlines the areas of your medical business that you, the owner, must be confident in. Identifying the ‘gaps’ in your practice is the first step to building resilience, growing sustainably and optimising revenue. 

Consider the below scenario: 

When you started your medical practice, you didn’t set a foundational structure for growth. You simply began seeing patients. Over time, your patient base grew, and you expanded your practice to cater to other doctors, specialists and allied health professionals. However, rather than drafting contracts, deals were sealed with a handshake. 

You have a secretary who has been with you for years, although they aren’t necessarily trained to handle the increasing demands of your medical practice. All the information about how your practice operates is in their head; processes aren’t documented. You’re worried that if they leave, they will take all the knowledge of your practice with them. 

You are unsure how your finances are tracking. You’re paying your bills, but you’re not certain you’ve been paid for all the work you’ve done. You feel concerned about things like payroll tax and whether your bookkeeper is up to date on the healthcare industry’s evolving regulations. 

You have no reporting or decision-making structure, and there are no position descriptions or contracts in place with employees. You want your practice to grow, but you don’t have the capabilities in-house to support growth successfully and sustainably. 

You’re keeping your head above water, but things could be better. You just don’t know where to start. 

If the above scenario resonated with you, you’re not alone. Many doctors don’t have the business understanding to make their medical practice thrive because they weren’t taught how. Our Practice Management Consulting team can conduct a Gap Analysis on your practice to identify its strengths and weaknesses and suggest areas of improvement. 

What is a Gap Analysis? 

A Gap Analysis is a process that compares the ‘gap’ between a business’s current performance and the ideal scenario. 

A Gap Analysis can take two forms: a holistic or focused approach. For example, perhaps you know that your HR could be improved. In this case, our Practice Management Consulting team would work closely with your in-house team to uncover challenges and opportunities in HR management and formulate strategies to address them. 

On the other hand, you may not know what area/s of your business may be lagging. Here, we would take a whole-of-business approach to identify addressable gaps and pathways for improvement. 

Benefits of a Gap Analysis 

A Gap Analysis provides a tailored action plan that can address specific challenges and benefit a medical business in many ways, including: 

• identify strategic weaknesses 
• optimise revenue 
• reduce costs 
• improve the capability and efficiency of your in-house team 
• build business resilience 
• reduce hassle for you, the business owner. 

Our expert team of consultants are trained and knowledgeable about the healthcare industry and can work with large and small GP and specialist practices. To find out how your practice can benefit from a Gap Analysis, book a 30-minute consultation with one of our Practice Success Consultants.