Writing Policies for your Midwife Business

Writing Policies for your Midwife Business

Overwhelmed by administration side of the business? Unsure where to start with policies? I tell people to break things up into sections: administration policies, legal policies, financial policies, clinical policies, inventory policies, insurance policies, training policies, charting policies, employment policies, credentialing policies, etc. Small home birth practices won’t have nearly the policies as large midwifery practices birthing in the hospital. Larger the organization, more policies are needed to help run smoothly.

Do you want to start a birth center that is accredited by AABC (American Association Birth Centers)? There are extensive policy requirements to get that national licensure. Want to make sure all staff is cleaning birth tubs the same? Need to write a very specific policy that is referenced when training new staff. Want to know how many times to send patient statement for outstanding balances before sending to debt collector? Need a policy on file for your practice to reference in those matters. 

Want to know who is a good candidate for a home birth and your practice is willing to care for? Need a policy to reference. Many of the clinical guidelines written will be helpful in legal situations to show your standard of care and why a decision was made by the practice (has happened many times and saved me!). Collaboration agreement with doctor and transfer of care policies are also really helpful in these legal situations.

Some practices are more than welcome to share their policies with you. Most, due to time spent and uniqueness of each practice’s policies will not share. That is much of the time spent prepping for your midwife business to open is policy creation, business plan implementation, supply ordering, staff hiring and training, and marketing. 

Our consultation services would love to provide your practice with many of the more common practice policies to save time and money in creating them. We can tailor a policy package together that fits your practice’s needs. Protect your practice with guidelines. Avoiding many training mistakes when staff don’t have a hard position statement of your instructions or recommendations on matters. Create a hard reference point that gives consistent care among the midwives on the team with policies. A well run business needs written policies on all aspects of the entity. Be proactive and get your team together to form this valuable resources!