Ensure a Smooth Relocation for Your Practice with These Tips

A practice relocation is a huge endeavor! To ensure continuity of patient care — and maintain positive cash flow — you can’t afford to forget even one minor detail. Use these tips to help you prepare for a seamless transition to your new practice location.

Update Credentials Before Practice Relocation

While much of your credentialing information details your education and background, there is a lot of information pertinent to your geographical location. A practice relocation will result in a lot of new data that you need to update to ensure that new and existing patients can find you and you don’t miss any reimbursements! If you have a credentialing administrator profile, log into CAQH to update your locations, resolve discrepancies, and make sure all of your pertinent information is up to date, including: Practice relocation.

Mailing address
Email address
Phone number
Hospital or medical group affiliation
Tax ID for the new practice, if different
Any disciplinary actions you may have since your last credentialing

Allow ample time: Give yourself a few months if you will be credentialing with a new hospital. Start the notification process with payers as soon as you know your new address.

Crossing state lines? Unfortunately, if you are relocating your practice to another state, be prepared to start your credentialing process again from scratch. Even if you participate in many of the same insurance networks, those contracts won’t necessarily transfer. This includes Medicare and Medicaid enrollment along with private insurance companies. Allow yourself 90-120 days to get your credentialing in order before you move.

COVID-19 Caveat: If you are specifically crossing state lines or moving practice locations to assist with the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the rules may not apply. For example, United Healthcare states, “For providers who are already credentialed, we will not require additional credentialing to practice in a new location or to practice across state lines. This is subject to change as required by federal/state requirements.” Practice relocation.

Best bet: To ensure you don’t miss out on any cash flow, follow each individual carrier’s particular credentialing update requirements that meet your circumstances.

Inform Patients of the Move

Letting patients know about your move is a big task and shouldn’t be left to just one method of communication nor should it be left until the last minute. There are a lot of different ways you can notify your patients about your practice relocation. You can:

Mail every patient a letter with a map of the new location.
Email the same correspondence and map to all your patients.
Change your answering machine greeting to include the upcoming location change.
Have your receptionist notify each patient about the move upon appointment scheduling.
Remind patients at check in and check out.
Hang signs at your practice with the new information and official moving date.
Post the move details on your social media pages.
Text patients prior to the move and after the fact with their appointment reminder.

Keep employees informed: These same methods of communication will work for employees as well! Don’t assume that all of your employees are aware of the move, especially if you’ve shifted a number of employees to work from home during the pandemic. Make sure to communicate the move date and location with all of your employees in multiple methods to keep everyone informed.

Change of Address Notifications

Patients aren’t the only ones who will need to find you! Before the big day, make sure to prepare a list of all the individuals and agencies you need to update with your new address and contact info. Some of these include:

The US Post Office
All of your payers and licensing authorities (which you should have taken care of with your credentialing changes)
Medical/office equipment leasing companies and supply vendors
State licensing agencies
S. Drug Enforcement Agency
Payroll processing and billing services
Insurance agents, banks, attorneys
Hospitals, labs, and other professional organizations
Change your practice address in NPPES and PECOS

Making a List, Checking It Twice …

While address change notification is a huge undertaking, there are a lot of other tasks that need to be done to make the transition to a new location seamless. Here are other items to put on your to-do list and ways to make the move go more smoothly: Practice relocation.

Update your printed materials: Give yourself ample time for printing and, before the move, make sure to order new business cards, prescription pads, letterhead, and any other printed products you need with your new address.
Create an inventory list: Itemize all the items you will need to move, paying special attention to controlled substances, medical records, and equipment. Note how these items will be transported to the new location and have someone present to check them in when they arrive.
Clean out your clutter: An office move is the perfect time to weed out things you don’t use anymore or that don’t work properly. Look at this as an opportunity to start fresh and clean out the clutter.
Hook up utilities: Call and schedule your electric, phone, and internet service changes so everything is hooked up and working on move-in day.
Update your online presence: Update your website, all of your social media accounts, and your address in Google so Google Maps can find you. Keep in mind every physician at your practice who is moving might have a profile to update.
Order outdoor signs: Don’t wait for a grand opening two months down the line. Order outdoor signs in advance to make sure that you have them in place on your very first day at your new location.
Hire insured movers: Medical equipment is expensive — you can’t afford not to be insured. Even better, find movers who have experience moving medical offices.
Divy up responsibilities: Many hands make light work so spread the responsibilities among your employees. From contacting vendors and utilities to scheduling the movers to updating social media and notifying patients, you can stay on top of these tasks when you assemble a transition team with some reliable employees to help with the coordination efforts.
Label your items. Use a colored or numbered labeling system to indicate where boxes, furniture, equipment, etc should all be placed in your new location.