Growing Your Private Practice in 2026: Elevating Financial Health Beyond More New Patients
If you run a clinic, private practice, or healthcare organization and you want 2026 to look different from 2025, you do not need another new patient gimmick. You need a different way of thinking about clinic leadership, healthcare systems and processes, operations, and financial management so you can grow your healthcare services in a sustainable way.
That is why creating a business plan that is specific for 2026 provides clarity and boundaries for making important decisions in a private practice, and it gives you a roadmap for how you will manage financial risk, allocate resources, and expand access to care in a crowded healthcare industry.
In a recent episode of All Things LOCS, we unpacked something most owners quietly feel but rarely say out loud. Clinics are usually not stuck because of insurance providers, government regulation, or “lazy staff.” They are stuck because of leadership mindset, a lack of real systems, weak healthcare delivery processes, and the failure to act on financial and operational numbers that are already screaming for attention.
Every year healthcare financial management is challenging due to rising costs and regulations, and healthcare organizations must leverage accurate financial data to manage competing incentives effectively, whether they operate in a hospital system, a small doctor’s office, or a growing mental health practice.
To build or grow a successful practice in the current health systems landscape, you must understand how your private practice fits into future trends, such as value based care and the shift from volume to value. Understanding your revenue sources, such as private pay or insurance, is crucial for a private practice's financial strategy, and creating a personal budget helps determine how much income is needed to cover personal expenses while running a private practice.
Is running a healthcare organization harder than its ever been? Yes. However, you can succeed and thrive when you employ the right gameplan. Let's go!
Healthcare Leadership Mindset: The First Step To Growing Your Clinic In 2026
Before you invest in a new EMR, a marketing agency, or a consultant, you need to fix what is happening at the top. Growth begins with the way you think about your role in care delivery and how you manage your financial risk.
What “mindset” really means for healthcare leaders
“Mindset” gets thrown around constantly on social media.
“You just have to fix your mindset.”
Most people have no idea what that means in practice.
Mindset is how you see the world, the stories you tell yourself, and the beliefs that quietly drive how you act every day. In a clinic or doctor’s office, those beliefs determine:
How you interpret problems
How you respond when things go wrong
Whether you take responsibility or blame everything around you
Owners often come into consulting asking for tactics:
“Give me the next strategy.”
“What is the new patient acquisition play I am missing so I can get more clients?”
“What software do I need to create better systems?”
Underneath, the belief structure might sound like this:
“I do not really deserve success.”
“It is everyone else’s fault we are not where we should be.”
“I cannot fix this because of insurance, the economy, or my staff.”
As we put it in the episode:
“Ultimately it is the mindset that is, ‘I am the problem.’”
Until an owner can say that with honesty and ownership, every tactic, including financial strategies, will hit a ceiling.
Why optimism beats blind positivity
There is a major difference between pretending everything is fine and being grounded yet hopeful.
Dan framed it this way:
“Positive for me is just like, ‘Yeah, everything is great,’ even though maybe things are falling apart in front of you. Optimistic is, ‘All right, we can see things for the way they are, but we are still confident that we are gonna come out on top of this.’”
Your team of physicians, therapists, and administrative staff does not need fake positivity. They need a leader who can:
Look directly at cancellations, staffing issues, or cash flow problems
Tell the truth about them
Still communicate a path forward that preserves quality and value
That is optimism in action and it is crucial if you want to build trust inside your organization.
Accountability at the top first
You cannot demand accountability from your staff if you do not model it yourself.
“If you cannot take accountability as the person who is in charge, what gives you the right to demand accountability from the people that are working with you?”
Accountability means:
You take responsibility for your actions whether you “knew better” or not
You own your contribution to the problem
You claim your power to change it and create better services
When you refuse to take accountability, you hand your power to outside forces and quietly tell yourself, “I cannot fix this.” That mindset makes it impossible to manage your financial risk, improve healthcare services, or create the relationships necessary for long term success.
Humility and coachability as growth multipliers
Some of the best clients are the ones who show up “hat in hand” saying:
“I have exhausted all options. I have tried a lot of things. I am at my wits end.”
They are humble enough to admit they do not have all the answers and open enough to receive help. That humility is not weakness. It is a sign they care more about getting the clinic where it needs to go than protecting their ego, which is essential if you want to achieve a more resilient and valuable practice in a competitive healthcare industry.
Why owners resist the truth about their clinic
In health care, you are used to being the expert. You diagnose, you write orders, people listen. You may have gone through medical school or advanced clinical training that conditioned you to always have the answer.
When your own business is in pain, it is incredibly uncomfortable to admit:
“I caused a lot of this.”
We compared it to a patient with chronic knee pain who is significantly overweight. They come in looking for every explanation other than their own lifestyle. They do not want to hear, “My choices played a big role in this.”
Clinic owners do the same thing with:
Insurance denials
Staffing problems
Burnout
Revenue plateaus
It feels easier to point at external forces than to ask, “What is my role in this and what do I need to change?”
Until that question is asked and answered, nothing meaningful will shift in your systems, your services, or your financial outcomes.
Misaligned Partners: How Clinic Owners Hurt Culture, Operations and Revenue
Partnerships, especially husband and wife clinics or long term co owners, can be a powerful advantage. They can also quietly strangle growth, damage culture, and limit the value your practice creates for patients and the community.
The husband and wife clinic problem
In the episode, we described a common scenario:
One partner is honest, accountable, and fully bought into getting help
They are transparent about the problems and how it has affected them professionally and personally
The other partner shows up to the call and says, “I just want to be pitched on what you guys do”
No curiosity. No humility. No willingness to open up.
“That is like going to a clinic and saying, ‘I just want to see what you guys can do for me.’”
If you co own your practice, this dynamic might feel uncomfortably familiar. One person is screaming for help. The other has their head in the sand, even as the practice tries to manage rising costs and changing expectations from hospitals, health systems, and insurance companies.
Can a clinic succeed if only one partner wants help?
In pure financial terms, yes. That is exactly why this is so tricky.
“They can be successful, and that is where people get tripped up. ‘We have done it this way for the longest time and look how much money we are making.’”
The real questions are:
How much money have you left on the table because you are not aligned?
How much burnout have you normalized that did not need to be there?
How much chaos are your employees absorbing because the owners are not on the same page?
We gave an example of a clinic projecting 2.5 million in revenue. Based on their market and capacity, they could have been at 5 million if the partners had aligned, communicated, and held each other accountable years earlier. That is the difference between surviving and becoming a truly successful practice in your local market.
What real alignment looks like
Alignment is not about agreeing on every detail. It is about agreeing on:
What success actually looks like for your family and your clinic
How you will grow, not just how much
When you will bring in outside help and what “struggling” means
Without that, one partner drags the business forward while the other quietly pulls it backward. Over time, the culture, operations, hiring decisions, and finances all pay the price, and the quality of your healthcare services may decline at the exact time patients need you most.
Core Systems Every Healthcare Clinic Needs To Grow In 2026
Once the mindset and leadership foundation is in place, then and only then do systems become powerful. These systems and processes are essential if you want predictable growth, better access, and less chaos.
Most clinics talk about systems in vague terms.
“You gotta get your systems in place.”
In reality, organizations often:
Have no real systems at all
Have “piles of procedures” that no one follows
Or piece things together and promise to clean it up once they have more patients or more money
That “we will fix it later” approach is one of the biggest growth killers in healthcare.
“If you are growing a business, when do you really have the time to now implement the systems? It is so much harder in year 4 than if you built them from day one.”
Streamlining administrative processes enhances efficiency in a private practice, and those improvements are critical if you want to free up resources for patient care, hiring, and better use of your office space.
So what systems matter most?
Scheduling systems that keep your clinic flowing
Scheduling is not just time on a calendar. It is the backbone of operations.
If scheduling is chaotic:
Providers are overbooked or underutilized
Patients fall through the cracks
Front desk staff stays in constant firefighting mode
You should have clear, written processes for:
New patient intake and scheduling
Rescheduling workflows
Reactivating past patients
Waitlists and how to fill last minute openings
When your schedule is out of alignment, your entire business is out of alignment. A thoughtful scheduling system is crucial for quality healthcare delivery, especially in busy settings like mental health practices or multidisciplinary hospitals.
Billing and revenue cycle systems that protect cash flow
Owners complain about insurance and cash flow constantly. At the same time:
“You would be surprised how many organizations do not have a system or a process for their billing. And that is the thing they complain about the most.”
Whether you are insurance based, hybrid, or cash based, you need:
A clear cash conversion cycle
Defined ownership of each step from verification to collections
Written handoffs between clinical, front desk, and billing
Regular metrics and audits on denials, write offs, and collection rates
Healthcare financial management requires ongoing performance monitoring with financial statements and metrics. If you are not reviewing those numbers, you cannot manage your financial risk or make smart decisions about services, hiring, or expansion. You cannot claim “We do not get paid what we are worth” if you are not tracking and fixing the parts of the process that are fully in your control.
Clinical treatment parameters and consistent outcomes
You never want to tell clinicians exactly how to treat each patient. You do want clear standards around:
When to change a treatment plan
When to order diagnostics or consult a colleague
What “good progress” versus “stalled” looks like per diagnosis
Without this, you get:
Providers who “just keep doing the same thing” long after it stopped working
Inconsistent outcomes that hurt your brand
Clinical drift where each provider runs their own playbook
Consistent treatment parameters help you create more predictable outcomes across different physicians, therapists, and locations, which is essential if you want to build trust with patients and referral partners.
Patient experience systems that improve retention and referrals
Your clinic is a brand. Patients are not thinking about your credentials first. They are asking:
“Will you fix my problem?”
“Is this going to be a reasonably easy process for me?”
Patient experience systems include:
How fast someone answers the phone
How many hoops they jump through before they see you
How you communicate between visits
How you handle cancellations and no shows
If it takes 15 minutes to get someone on the phone and four weeks to get them into the office, your system is not just inefficient. It is costing you revenue every single week and eroding the perceived value of your services.
One more side note: Of all the key strategies every clinic should employ, an often overlooked patient one is the patient follow up. However, when you can effectively engage with patients when they are out of the office, it creates raving fans and adds to revenue.
Employee feedback and talent systems for sustainable growth
You cannot grow without people.
You need systems for:
Gathering employee feedback and acting on it
Attracting the right talent as you grow
Retaining high performers and developing internal leaders
These systems influence every aspect of hiring, training, and retention, and they are critical if you want your practice to scale without burning out your team. Healthcare organizations that invest in people and processes are far better positioned to adapt to future trends in value based care and evolving patient expectations.
Once you fix systems and KPIs, growth tends to follow. When it does, the next bottleneck is often people. If you have not built a talent pipeline and retention system, you will hit another ceiling quickly.
KPIs For Healthcare Clinics: Metrics That Tell The Truth About Performance
Key performance indicators are not a vanity dashboard. They are your North Star that keeps your clinic heading in the right direction and help you manage competing goals across services, access, and profitability.
“KPIs are like guardrails to help you accomplish. It is a means to an end.”
Key performance indicators every clinic owner should track
There is no universal list, but strong candidates include:
Patient cancellation and no show rate
Patient retention through plan of care
Average visits per case, ideally by diagnosis
Time from first inquiry to first appointment
Collection rate and days in accounts receivable
Utilization per provider
Employee turnover and vacancy days per position
We highlighted cancellation rate as one metric most clinics track poorly.
“There was this practice that had their cancellation rate at 27 percent, which is pretty bad. And that place was packed.”
Packed schedules can hide massive leakage.
Instead of trying to go from 27 percent to 1 percent overnight, we recommend incremental targets:
27% to 25%
25% to 23%
23% to 20%
It is like weight loss. Losing 100 pounds in a month is unrealistic. Losing 10 pounds, then another 10, then another, is how real change happens.
Healthcare organizations must leverage accurate financial data to manage competing incentives effectively, especially as they navigate value based care models and negotiate with insurance. Proactive financial planning and cash flow management are essential for long term success in healthcare finance, and KPIs are the tools that show you where to focus.
How to use KPIs to coach your team instead of punish them
One reason owners avoid KPIs is that they are afraid of hard conversations.
Many do not know how to say:
“Our patient retention is terrible. Let us figure out why and fix it together.”
Without sounding like:
“You are all doing a terrible job.”
We described a common pattern:
“People sit down like, ‘Why is our patient retention so crappy?’ Now the team is defensive, then you hear excuses, and the owner gets more angry.”
If that is how you handle KPIs, it is no surprise that no one wants to tell the truth.
A better approach:
Make sure the entire team knows what KPIs you track and why
Frame the numbers as a shared scoreboard, not a weapon
Ask open questions:
“What gets in your way when you try to keep patients on schedule?”
“What do patients say when they cancel?”
Co create solutions and assign clear owners
Follow up at the next data cycle to review progress
The numbers tell a story. Your job as a leader is to learn how to read that story and lead your team through the plot twists so that the practice can achieve better financial outcomes and better care.
Avoiding common KPI mistakes in healthcare practices
The three biggest KPI mistakes we see are:
Tracking numbers that do not connect to any strategic goal
Reviewing data without changing decisions or behavior
Keeping KPIs at the ownership level and never sharing them with staff
To avoid them, make sure every KPI you track:
Ties to a clear outcome such as revenue, retention, or experience
Has an owner who is responsible for monitoring it
Has a rhythm for review and action planning with the team
Healthcare financial management requires ongoing performance monitoring with financial statements and metrics, and KPIs bridge the gap between high level financial reports and the daily actions of your team.
Your Healthcare Software Stack: Why It Fails Without Real Leadership
Every year, clinics invest more money in software:
Electronic health records
Scheduling systems
CRM and marketing tools
Online intake and payments
Yet the story is familiar:
“Talk to anybody in medicine. They all hate their EHR. ‘It is supposed to make my life easier, but it has made it more difficult.’”
Often it is not a software problem. It is a leadership and systems problem.
Training and handoffs between systems and teams
Without strong leadership, a sophisticated software stack can multiply chaos:
No one is properly trained on how to use each tool
Handoffs between systems are unclear
Communication between departments breaks down
Patients fall into the gaps between platforms
Part of a /owner/CEO’s job is to make sure:
There is clear ownership for every system
There is a documented workflow for how data and tasks move between systems
Staff is trained, retrained, and supported during adoption
There are checkpoints that catch breakdowns early
Otherwise, as we described:
“These connection points between different systems fall through the cracks. Patients, clients, prospects, there could be strong communication gaps between you and them, but also between the team on who does what in which handoff procedure.”
Software should support the systems and leadership you already have. It cannot replace them. When used properly, tools can help you manage resources more efficiently, track essential financial data, and enhance the quality of your healthcare delivery, but they are never a substitute for clear processes and accountable leadership.
The Blunt Truth About Clinic Growth in 2026 and Independent Practices
If we could send a blunt, no BS voice memo to every struggling clinic owner, it would sound something like this:
“You are not as good as you think you are. You are very resistant to getting help. There is no reason for you to be in this chaos. If you put your ego to the side you can experience a life and a business that is beyond your wildest dreams. But you are in your own way.”
That might sting. It is meant to.
Because the alternative is not neutral. It is a slow slide into losing control of your practice.
“Private equity is gonna gobble you up and destroy the patient outcomes in your community that you worked so hard to build.”
If you refuse to adapt, optimize, and lead, the market will eventually make the decision for you. The importance of strong financial management, practical systems, and aligned leadership has never been more critical for independent practices that want to remain relevant in evolving health systems.
Define success before you chase it
The good news is that you still have more control than you think.
One of the most important questions we left listeners with was:
“What does the endgame look like?”
Not just:
“How big do you want your clinic to be?”
But also:
How many hours do you want to work?
How much time do you want with your family?
How do you want patients to describe their experience with your clinic?
What level of stress is acceptable to you?
If your current reality does not match that vision, then the next question is:
“What do I need to do differently to get there if I am not there now?”
Going into 2026, you can use this simple framework:
Fix the mindset at the top
Accept responsibility, cultivate optimism, and practice humility.Align the leadership team or partners
Get on the same page about success, growth, and when to seek help.Document and implement core systems
Scheduling, billing, treatment parameters, patient experience, talent, and feedback loops.Identify and track the right KPIs
Let the numbers coach you instead of scare you.Use software to support your systems, not hide your gaps
Train, communicate, and refine the tech stack as an integrated whole.
If you do these things, you will not only grow your clinic. You will reclaim your time, protect your team from burnout, and deliver better outcomes for your patients. You will also position your private practice to adapt to future trends in value based care, mental health services, and integrated models that link hospitals, clinics, and community providers.
That is the whole point.
➡️ Listen to the full episode and subscribe so you never miss strategies that help you improve leadership, operations, culture, and financial growth.
➡️ Ready to eliminate operational chaos, improve financial performance, and build a practice that grows without burning you out?
Book a discovery call with Best Practice Strategies and take the first step today.
Frequently Asked Questions About Growing a Healthcare Clinic in 2026
What is the most important mindset shift for clinic owners who want to grow in 2026?
The biggest shift is moving from “everything is happening to me” to “I am the owner, and I am responsible for changing this.” When you stop blaming insurance, staff, or the economy and instead focus on what you can control, you unlock far more options for growth in both clinical outcomes and financial results.
Which KPIs should healthcare clinics track first?
Start with a small set that directly affects revenue and patient experience. For most outpatient clinics that means patient cancellation and no show rate, patient retention through plan of care, time from first inquiry to first appointment, and basic revenue cycle metrics like collection rate and days in accounts receivable.
How can clinic owners reduce cancellations and no shows?
Begin by tracking the cancellation rate accurately. Then listen to what patients say when they cancel, tighten reminder systems, and train front desk and clinicians to resell the plan of care. Effective follow ups can significantly boost conversion rates from consultations to clients and are an essential part of a healthy sales funnel.
What systems should I build first if my clinic feels chaotic?
If everything feels chaotic, start with your scheduling system and your billing and collections system. Those two areas touch almost every part of the business. From there, focus on streamlining administrative processes and clarifying financial management practices so your practice has the stability to grow and create more value for patients and your community.
About the Author
Daniel Neissany, DPT is a healthcare entrepreneur, consultant, and co host of the All Things LOCS podcast, where he helps leaders improve their Leadership, Operations, Culture, and Strategy so they can grow without burning out their teams.
Dan has led and advised outpatient clinics through multi million dollar growth, built systems that reduced chaos in busy practices, and helped healthcare owners use real data to make better decisions.
