Building the right team is one of the most critical decisions a practice will make. How you staff your clinical and administrative teams directly impacts patient care, financial performance, and your ability to grow sustainably. But striking the right balance isn’t always easy.
If you’ve taken our quiz, you know top-performing practices hit specific benchmarks:
- Patient-to-provider ratio: 700–1,200+ patients per provider
- MA-to-provider ratio: 1–2 MAs per provider
- Admin staff-to-provider ratio: 2–4 staff per provider
- Staffing spend: Around 30% of gross revenue
While these ratios set a great foundation, the bigger question is how you build and manage that team: what should you hire in-house, and what should you outsource?
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Key Back Office and Staffing Functions to Consider
A fully functional practice back office typically includes:
- Clinical Support Staff: MAs, RNs, LPNs
- Front Office Staff: Schedulers, intake, registration, reception
- Revenue Cycle Management (RCM): Billing, coding, claims submission, collections
- Credentialing: Provider enrollment, re-enrollment, insurance panels
- Human Resources (HR): Recruitment, onboarding, staff training, compliance
- Payroll Administration: Processing payroll, managing time off and leave policies
- Benefits Administration: Managing health benefits, retirement plans
- Compliance and Risk Management: HIPAA, OSHA, labor laws
- IT and Systems Support: EMR management, cybersecurity
- Patient Communication: Appointment reminders, follow-up calls, patient engagement platforms
- Marketing and Growth: Digital marketing, reputation management
- Facilities Management: Lease management, maintenance
Managing all these areas effectively is complex, and deciding what stays in-house versus what to outsource is a key strategic decision.
When to Hire In-House
Certain roles benefit from being managed directly:
- Clinical Staff (MAs, Nurses, Providers): Patient-facing roles should be tightly integrated with your care delivery team.
- Front Office Staff: Schedulers and intake coordinators shape the patient experience and often benefit from being onsite and part of the team.
- Patient Communication: Staff involved in direct patient contact, scheduling, and follow-up often work best under direct practice supervision.
- IT Support (Basic): Day-to-day IT issues, EMR usage assistance, and hardware maintenance are often managed internally or with a hybrid model.
In-house management ensures team cohesion, patient satisfaction, and the ability to adapt workflows quickly.
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When to Outsource
Specialized, complex, or non-patient-facing functions are often better handled by external experts:
- Billing and Coding: RCM firms ensure higher clean claims rates and faster collections.
- Credentialing: Outsourcing reduces errors and shortens time to enrollment.
- HR and Payroll: External partners handle recruitment, onboarding, payroll processing, and benefits management efficiently and compliantly.
- Compliance: Annual audits and policy updates are best handled by specialists who stay current on changing regulations.
- Advanced IT Support: Cybersecurity, data backups, and system integration benefit from third-party expertise.
- Marketing and Growth: Digital marketing requires skills and tools beyond most in-house capabilities.
- Facilities Management: Maintenance contracts and lease negotiations can often be outsourced for cost savings.
Outsourcing reduces administrative burden, improves efficiency, and allows in-house staff to focus on patient care and practice management.
Why Consolidated Services Matter
Not all outsourcing is created equal. Working with multiple vendors for different services can create fragmentation and inefficiencies.
Vendors that offer consolidated services streamline operations by:
- Providing a single point of contact
- Offering integrated solutions (e.g., HR, payroll, and benefits management together)
- Understanding the specific needs of healthcare practices
- Reducing costs through bundled services
A consolidated partner ensures better alignment and fewer administrative headaches.
Where MedWay Fits In
MedWay is purpose-built for independent practices and CHCs. We don’t try to do everything — we focus on the areas that make the biggest impact:
- Turnkey HR, payroll, and staffing support
- Streamlined, cloud-based HR/payroll platform
- Access to competitive employee health and retirement benefits
- Full-service recruitment solutions
- Practice liability coverage options
By specializing in the critical back office functions that most practices need help with, MedWay frees your team to focus on delivering excellent patient care.
Ready to build a smarter staffing and operations model?
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