3 ways doctors can run their practices more like a business

Successful business owners spend their time working on their business rather than just working in their business, but that’s not the case with most physician practices, says one doctor.

“When viewed through this lens, traditional private practice starts to make little sense,” writes Steven Reznick, M.D., a Boca Raton, Florida,-based concierge practice owner who blogs under the pen name “TheBossMD.”

In medicine, most doctors haven’t grasped the demands on their time or the complexities that come with owning a business, he writes in a guest post on KevinMD.com. 

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Doctors not only have all the responsibilities of a business owner, they're also the driving economic force in the office. As a physician manager in a large healthcare organization who is still a practicing internist, he offers his ideas on how doctors can structure their practices to succeed in the long-term:

Make better use of nonphysician providers. He advises practices hire as many NPPs as they can afford and have them provide the majority of day-to-day care. That tactic is backed up by an analysis of U.S. medical groups by the Medical Group Management Association indicating that hiring more nonphysician providers and support staff are among the factors that can drive more profitable and productive practices.

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Evaluate your goals. “If you want no part of running a business, then don’t. Don’t open your own practice. Work for someone else, and focus on what you enjoy,” he says. On the other hand, if you have good business ideas, run your own practice rather than join a hospital-owned network.

Expand your practice’s reach. “You can transform your practice from a local business to a statewide” or national one with telemedicine, he says. To expand further, get licensed in other states or hire people already licensed to practice in another state.