Becker’s Hospital Review featured an article last month titled, “4 Best Practices for Successful Hospital Management,” in which one of the four tips advises healthcare administrators to do their research, prior to negotiating business with companies offering physician services.

The key, in terms of choosing the best physician outsourcing company to meet the needs of your hospital, is to search for niche service providers; work with a company that limits itself to the healthcare sector, focusing solely on physician services, and the like.

“Patient care is one of the most important roles needed for successful hospitals; the focus needs to be on the patients, on research, on the strengths of the hospital,” said healthcare expert Curtis Warfield. “If a vendor also handles accounts outside of the industry – like airline, automotive, credit cards and utilities – specialized attention will be lacking.

“Partners who specialize in the healthcare industry can help you identify adverse trends, such as, credit worthiness of your patients, best practice opportunities, and technologies available that will assist in maximizing cash flow and minimizing costs.”

There are a slew of healthcare-based physician outsourcing companies to choose from; some have hundreds of accounts, but personally, I believe some of the smaller companies are choice, in that, they are able to really cater to their partnered hospitals, as they don’t have so many (accounts), they generally don’t bite off more than they can chew.

Researching companies that supply outsourced physicians and other hospital affairs can be compared to shopping for a car; you wouldn’t ask a financial adviser to break down the differences between Ford and Chevy, would you?

“From the chief executive officer, down to the customer service provider, your focus should be healthcare,” Warfield said. “You need a specialist.”