It Takes A Village to Start and Run A Private Medical Practice

As much as we doctors like to be self-sufficient, there is only so much time in a day and we really do have more important things to worry about (patients) than how profitable our practice was today. Taking care of patients should be job number one. Having a strong and trusted core team of experts and advisors to guide is in running the business side of our medical practice allows us to focus on patient care, professional development, and our own needs for rest and relaxation to recharge our batteries.

It’s penny wise and pound foolish, to quote Ben Franklin (I think), to try and micromanage your practice, in my opinion. Set up your systems and your protocols and procedures correctly from the start and you should have less headaches. To set your practice up correctly you need input from other, more experienced, doctors, and your business advisors, including your lawyer and your accountant.

Having an effective office manager and resources such as a medical billing professional, healthcare information technologist, and a human resources expert to guide you on issues such as billing procedures, EMR software selection, and payroll and staff benefit options will help you avoid big regrettable mistakes later. Where do you find these experts? How do you know who to trust? PrivatePractice.MD, as it grows, will be a superb resource for you.

We can’t ignore the fact that our medical practice is a business. It provides us our livelihood and provides jobs for our staff and paychecks for everyone including the ancillary team of experts we rely on every day. Our main focus is quality care of our patients, but we can’t provide the best care if we are worried about paying our office rent or making next week’s staff payroll. We owe it to our patients (and our staff, advisors, and ourselves) to be just as smart about our business as we are about the medical care we provide.

My goal for PrivatePractice.MD is for this community to grow to include many experienced doctors and other healthcare experts and advisors. This rich community will share ideas, challenge each other, and be a resource for the new doctors starting their own practices. Please be an active participant! RB