Fractional CFO for Diagnostic Labs and Imaging Centers

Alehar shows a diagnostics business the profit on each test and scan type. It includes the price paid, reagents and supplies, machine time, technician and reporting costs, and any referral or channel discounts. You can see which tests and customer channels carry the business, and which are priced below cost.

An MRI or CT scanner needs enough scans a day to cover its loan or lease, its service contract, and the staff and running costs. Alehar works out that number for your scanner and compares it with how many scans you actually do. You can see the gap, and whether more referrals or longer opening hours would close it.

Alehar forecasts a diagnostics lab's cash flow by tracking each type of customer separately: walk-in patients who pay on the day, and hospitals, companies and insurers who pay later. You can see the money waiting in unpaid invoices and rejected claims, and how much credit you need while volumes grow.

Alehar shows a diagnostics business which centers make money by comparing every lab, imaging center and collection point on the same basis: samples or scans, the mix of tests, revenue share or discounts, rent, staff and transport costs. You can see which locations earn their place, which to fix and which to close. For a new site, Alehar builds the case from the volumes you expect in the area, local prices, equipment, fit-out and staff, and shows the months to break even and the cash you need until then.

Alehar tells a diagnostics lab how low it can go on price by working out your real cost per test and scan, including a share of rent, equipment and staff. You can see where you can match a competitor's price, where you cannot, and which tests or packages to promote instead to protect your profit.

A diagnostics lab owner should track the margin on each test and scan after reagents, staff and discounts, the number of scans or tests each machine ran against the number it needs to pay for itself, how long each hospital, insurer and company is taking to pay, rejected claims waiting to be resubmitted, and the cash position a quarter ahead. Alehar puts these in front of you once a month, so a payer that has slowed down or a machine running below break-even is picked up early.

Alehar prepares a diagnostics business for a larger chain's checks by getting the record ready early: test volumes and mix over several years, profit by test and channel, reliance on a few referring doctors or hospitals, the age of your equipment and local price competition. When the time comes, Alehar can handle the sale under its Selling your Company service.

An outsourced or virtual CFO suits most diagnostics businesses with several sites. Alehar provides a senior finance lead and a team. Each month they review every lab, scanner and collection center with you, together with the cash plan, and agree what to tackle first. Groups get what they would expect from a part-time FD. Your accountant carries on with the books and tax returns.