Healthcare professionals excel at caring for patients, using their skills and compassion to improve patient outcomes. However, as the financial side of medicine becomes more complex, it’s crucial to rely on the expertise of financial professionals. While your clinical team ensures your healthcare practice delivers exceptional patient care, they optimize the financial performance of the practice. That’s where a fractional CFO steps in.
A fractional chief financial officer (CFO), often called an outsourced CFO, gives you the benefits of having an in-house financial expert without the costs or obligations associated with having a full-time CFO on staff.
They oversee and manage your practice’s financials, provide professional guidance, and help you make strategic decisions that will sustain long-term financial health for your practice and yourself.
Not sure if a fractional CFO is the right choice for your practice? Here’s a look at what it would look like for your healthcare practice to have a fractional CFO and why you might consider hiring one.
What Does It Look Like for Your Healthcare Practice to Have a Fractional CFO?
Financially, few things are better for your healthcare practice than having a person who provides personalized financial expertise. This enables you to focus on what you do best: caring for patients.
By partnering with a Fractional CFO, you can base your financial decisions on high-level expertise and insight while avoiding the time, energy, and cost of hiring a full-time financial executive.
Fractional CFOs are equipped to do the same financial management as a full-time CFO but on a part-time basis. Fractional CFO services in a healthcare practice include:
- Preparation of financial reports
- Analyzing and improving cash flow
- Financial projections, forecasts, and budgets
- Improving your revenue cycle management
- Providing guidance on opportunities for growth
- Managing and strategizing your practice’s financial position
In addition, a fractional CFO can view your practice from an outside lens. More often than not, this enables them to offer outside the box solutions to problems you hadn’t thought of before.
If they discover that your IT systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks, which can put patient records at risk, they can advise IT solutions to strengthen your cybersecurity. If they recognize that improved staff turnover could enhance your revenue, they’ll help you find a durable solution.
It is a tremendous benefit to have a readily available resource you can depend on for any financial questions.
Should You Consider Hiring a Fractional CFO for Your Healthcare Practice?
As anyone in healthcare can attest, a practice runs best when clinicians can focus on what they know best. Despite the countless hours spent in medical school and residency, few healthcare providers receive any training in the complex financial side of medicine. As a result, doctors and other medical professionals who wish to open their own healthcare practice are expected to have ample training to manage and strategize complex financial decisions.
Would your healthcare practice benefit from hiring a fractional CFO? Two areas are essential when considering a fractional CFO service for your healthcare practice.
First, your fractional CFO partner should have a suitable skill set. At a minimum, your fractional CFO candidate should have broad-based experience in financial reporting in healthcare— specifically in the type of medicine you provide — as well as in strategic planning, financial modeling, cash management, critical negotiations, and project management. Every healthcare practice will need someone with these skills to guide your practice as it evolves, and new projects are identified. These broad-based skillsets will create a long-term relationship while making the most profitable impact.
The second is partnering with a fractional CFO who fits within your practice’s culture. Every healthcare practice has a different culture and way of working together as a team to get things done. A fractional CFO is a crucial position, and that person should fit in within the accounting department and the management teams. Aligning a cultural fit maximizes the benefit of having a fractional CFO within your organization.
In addition to these two points, a fractional CFO can provide the expertise needed to make informed financial decisions if your practice is looking to grow or expand. Their insights can help you make the best decisions that will ensure your growth is maximized while being sustainable.
Finding a Fractional CFO for Your Healthcare Practice
Using a professional advisory firm with experience assisting healthcare practices of all sizes and specialties paired with decades of accounting understanding is a good start.
The healthcare team at Rehmann is uniquely positioned to partner and help you understand your entire financial picture. From the practice you work to grow every day to your financial legacy, we are ready to help you achieve financial stability and support your passion for delivering patient care.
To learn how Rehmann can help you and your healthcare practice succeed, contact us for more information.
