99MGMT Blog

Most physicians didn’t go through years of training to become billing experts, HR managers, or IT troubleshooters. Yet that’s exactly what running a medical practice can feel like.

If your medical practice overhead seems to be eating into your revenue, you’re not alone. Research shows that the average medical practice overhead percentage ranges between 60% and 70% of revenue. Which, unfortunately, means a large portion of your income isn’t going into your pocket; it’s going straight to expenses. 

Marketing and referral strategies are part of running a private practice. In Texas, they come with legal risks that aren’t always obvious.

Opening a medical clinic is rewarding – but it comes with upfront costs. Lease deposits. Equipment. Insurance. Payroll. Marketing. It all needs to be paid for before you ever see your first patient.

Ending a relationship with a patient isn’t something providers take lightly. But when certain patterns continue – missed appointments, refusal to follow a treatment plan, or inappropriate behavior – it may be time to move on.

The Stark Law, officially called the Physician Self-Referral Law, is a federal rule that shapes how healthcare providers handle referrals and financial relationships. It was created to prevent arrangements that might put financial interests ahead of patient care. In Texas, providers often have questions about what the law covers and how to stay aligned with it.

Starting or growing a medical practice in Texas comes with its fair share of logistical challenges, but few are more critical than completing the physician credentialing process. Whether you’re opening a new clinic in Austin or adding a new specialist to your Fort Worth group, the credentialing process for physicians is what ensures compliance, payer reimbursement, and uninterrupted patient care.

Yet, many practices stumble at this stage, not because they’re disorganized, but because the process is packed with technicalities, deadlines, and payer-specific requirements. In Texas, with its blend of national insurers, Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs), and independent hospital systems, credentialing can feel like assembling a 1,000-piece puzzle, without the box lid.

Each patient file you create is more than a clinical record; it’s a vault of deeply personal information. And in Texas, guarding that vault means navigating a complex web of both state and federal privacy laws.

Are your current policies airtight? Can your staff confidently respond to a records request, a data breach, or a departing physician’s transition plan? Many practices assume they’re compliant — until they discover a gap during an audit or request.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Texas laws add additional layers to HIPAA with faster turnaround times, stricter definitions, and tougher penalties. Even a small oversight can lead to costly consequences.

Referral relationships are part of everyday operations in a medical practice – but they can also create unexpected legal risk. If a physician refers patients to a facility where they have or a family member has a financial interest, that referral could violate federal law. The Physician Self-Referral Law, known as Stark Law, was created to prevent these conflicts and reduce unnecessary services billed to Medicare or Medicaid.

Let’s face it: EHR systems aren’t the shiny new toy in your office anymore — they’re the standard. 

For most healthcare practices, EHR implementation is no longer a question of “if” but “how well.” Spurred by federal incentives and evolving care standards over the past two decades, electronic health record platforms have gone from novel innovations to non-negotiable tools in modern healthcare. Today, almost every provider depends on EHR software to centralize patient data, streamline workflows, and coordinate care seamlessly.

But simply going live doesn’t guarantee success. Even well-established systems can leave teams battling workflow hiccups, security blind spots, and lingering frustration long after “implementation day” has come and gone. The real test now isn’t adoption — it’s optimization.