Business Ideas for Nurse Practitioners’ Private Practice

If you’re a nurse practitioner in private practice, then you’re also running a business. This comes with plenty of pros, such as autonomy and the potential to earn more, but it also comes with a steep learning curve as you navigate how to scale your business.

Luckily, tools and strategies exist to specifically help nurse practitioners in private practice focus on revenue-building. As with any business, you can achieve growth through marketing strategies that expand your client base, a broader scope of products and services, and efficient processes that save money and time.

Actively solicit and respond to online reviews

A strong web presence with social proof is a must-have for a thriving small business, and nurse practitioners in private practice are no exception. Not only should your website be optimized to capture search traffic from people seeking your services, but it should also be able to receive and display reviews from your clients. Build a consistent practice of soliciting reviews from your patients, especially for positive experiences. The more authentic social proof across your website and social channels, the more attractive your business will look to potential new clients and the better your site will rank.

Expand your scope to provide holistic care

If you have the bandwidth and resources, consider expanding on your core service offerings. As you gain an understanding of your clients’ unique needs and challenges over time, it may become more clear which types of additional services you should offer. For example, you might offer a preventive care treatment plan or even a holistic health plan that solves your patients’ problem of fragmented care experiences. Note that you may need to invest in additional certification or education to expand your treatment offerings. Think like a business owner and do a cost benefit analysis to make sure there is enough demand to justify the time and cost of additional certifications and education.

Hire admin and support staff

When you’re bogged down in administrative tasks instead of seeing patients, you’re losing out on income. Ideally, you should focus on billable hours for your expertise to maximize the revenue of your business while an administrative team handles the billing process for you and your customers. This will pay dividends by ensuring your time is valuably occupied with clients. Today, many affordable digital tools are available that can automate processes like booking, answering phone calls, and answering FAQs on your website, but at some point in the growth of your business, you will need extra help of administrative staff for things like schedule management, office management and help with patient care.

Build a business plan to scale your business

Creating a solid business plan can help you set goals, stay on track, and give you peace of mind. Design a 3-to-5-year business plan that focuses on increasing revenue, cutting costs, and investing in areas that promote growth. Keep yourself accountable by checking your business’s performance against your business plan at least quarterly and make adjustments as needed to stay the course.

Focus on your financial areas of development

A strong and reliable support team that handles medical billing is important for any nurse practitioner in private practice. A team-oriented administrative staff that can look at the business from a financial angle and has their finger on the pulse of clients’ needs can help you determine areas of opportunity and efficiency to drive your investments.

Invest in social media marketing

In addition to a high quality, optimized website, social media is just as important to your business’s web presence. Utilizing social channels to share your knowledge as a nurse practitioner can demonstrate your subject matter expertise, build your brand, and connect you with new potential clients. Social media is also an important place for collecting and showcasing reviews and building relationships with your existing clients. High-quality video equipment and lighting, thoughtful branding and planned content calendars can set your business up for success on social media.

Offer telehealth services

To fill up uncommitted time and to accommodate patients who may have difficulty meeting you on site, consider working via telehealth services for consultations, follow-ups, counseling sessions or other types of appointments that don’t require an in-person meeting. A recent study showed that of those who received telehealth services last year, 76% of them would prefer to receive care virtually in the future. So, while not a replacement, virtual visits can continue to compliment other in-person services.

Consider consulting and health coaching

Especially if telehealth is an option for your practice, you can greatly expand your customer base by offering remote consulting and health coaching. Use this technology to fill-in a sparce schedule, meet with new types of clients, or even work with other businesses such as health and wellness brands or media companies as a consultant or resident expert.