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deleted1175176
Is it viable for FM doctors to work 9-5 4 days a week in their own practice?
Is it viable for FM doctors to work 9-5 4 days a week in their own practice?
I can only speak from my own experience shadowing a FM doctor who owned his own practice, but this was his schedule. That number is kind of deceiving though, those were the hours he actually spent in the practice, but as he told me he pretty much always took his work home with him too. Had to look through patient records at home, deal with calls/texts, and of course the administration of running your own business. It wasn't ever really a job he "clocked out of".
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Welcome to the forums.
You should ask the predental forum if it's viable to be a general dentist owner of your own practice working 4 days for 8 hours a day. Your chances in dentistry would be much higher than doing the same in medicine. And even so, you can guess our answer. Not straight out of school. Not straight out of residency.
We have a forum on Private Practice for you to scan through.
You should ask the predental forum if it's viable to be a general dentist owner of your own practice working 4 days for 8 hours a day. Your chances in dentistry would be much higher than doing the same in medicine. And even so, you can guess our answer. Not straight out of school. Not straight out of residency.
We have a forum on Private Practice for you to scan through.
D
deleted1175176
Hi thank you but where can I find the forum on Private Practice? I've looked but can't seem to find it.
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Not sure if it is restricted to professionals only, but here's the link.
Finance and Investment
Discussion of everything other than financial aid. Includes investment, mortgage, retirement, banking, etc. Co-hosted with The White Coat Investor
forums.studentdoctor.net
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I'm afraid that forum is restricted to practicing physicians.
Let's tag someone who might be able to help answer your q!
@VA Hopeful Dr
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When it's your own business, you have to act like a business person, meaning all the admin stuff is yours to deal with. Most FM docs bring charts home to assure they have complied with all the documentation metrics which will optimize reimbursement. Dentists get away with that work schedule, mine does, although I believe it dimishes the reputation of the practice and the quality of care provided. I would not choose a Doc who didn't provide care during regular business hours.
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Do keep in mind that the cost of opening a practice is steep and keeping it open is difficult, too, particularly if reimbursement slows (a real problem depending on case mix). More and more solo and private group practices are being gobbled up by health systems and more and more physicians are becoming employees rather than business owners.
If you want to be a part-time physician, you might be better off as an employee rather than an owner but in that case, you don't get to call the tunes.
If you want to be a part-time physician, you might be better off as an employee rather than an owner but in that case, you don't get to call the tunes.
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Plenty of PCPs work just 4 days per week (or less). Some are half time (particularly mothers—I know quite a few with just 2-3 days of clinic per week, but there’s someone there 5 days/week from the group overall)
As an owner it can be hard to see all that lost revenue from not working (particularly since you probably still have to pay your staff to work…). But it’s certainly doable.
As an owner it can be hard to see all that lost revenue from not working (particularly since you probably still have to pay your staff to work…). But it’s certainly doable.
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Likewise shifting your hours so you are doing 6 AM to 2 PM, or noon to 8 PM could also really help - you'd have to find staff willing to to work those times, but having appointments available before or after school/work would be a huge draw for patients.
Hollow Knight
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*I'm not a doctor, so take this with a big grain of salt.
Private practice medicine is shrinking. Most of the groups I've seen are huge, multispecialty groups, because these days, as a solo doc, it's difficult to negotiate with an insurance company and get them to pay you fairly. So the groups and even hospital systems are merging and getting bigger.
My FM doc back home is a solo doc, but he joined a confederation of sorts of several thousand doctors in his state so that they all negotiate together. This is an option.
My former pediatrician growing up runs a vibrant practice, but he only takes the very best forms of health insurance. No medicare or medicaid patients. And, the guy sees like 30 patients a day.
Part of the issue is that with recent legal changes, paperwork has increased dramatically, while payment to physicians has stagnated (or even gone down this year I think). Docs have to hire more staff to fulfill paperwork obligations and argue with insurance companies to pay them, but they aren't getting reimbursed more to cover this expense. So, they take a salary hit, they merge with other docs to get economy of scale, or they fold and go work for a giant hospital system who handles all the paperwork, cybersecurity, etc for them.
One other option these days is Direct Primary Care- you don't take insurance, so you can get by with like one nurse and a building as your overhead, and then you charge patients $50 a month or something to take care of them. It's not necessarily less expensive for patients, but some docs like it because you can spend more time with patients instead of arguing with insurance companies to pay you for work you already did.
Dang. Sorry about the essay.
Private practice medicine is shrinking. Most of the groups I've seen are huge, multispecialty groups, because these days, as a solo doc, it's difficult to negotiate with an insurance company and get them to pay you fairly. So the groups and even hospital systems are merging and getting bigger.
My FM doc back home is a solo doc, but he joined a confederation of sorts of several thousand doctors in his state so that they all negotiate together. This is an option.
My former pediatrician growing up runs a vibrant practice, but he only takes the very best forms of health insurance. No medicare or medicaid patients. And, the guy sees like 30 patients a day.
Part of the issue is that with recent legal changes, paperwork has increased dramatically, while payment to physicians has stagnated (or even gone down this year I think). Docs have to hire more staff to fulfill paperwork obligations and argue with insurance companies to pay them, but they aren't getting reimbursed more to cover this expense. So, they take a salary hit, they merge with other docs to get economy of scale, or they fold and go work for a giant hospital system who handles all the paperwork, cybersecurity, etc for them.
One other option these days is Direct Primary Care- you don't take insurance, so you can get by with like one nurse and a building as your overhead, and then you charge patients $50 a month or something to take care of them. It's not necessarily less expensive for patients, but some docs like it because you can spend more time with patients instead of arguing with insurance companies to pay you for work you already did.
Dang. Sorry about the essay.
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Yes, it is possible. It's not the standard but it can be done.
Easiest way is to either find a practice where everyone (o at least some) of the other doctors only work 4 days per week or offer something to make up for taking a full day off. A VA offered me a 4 day a week job but instead of 8-5 I would have worked 7:30-5:30 on those 4 days.
Easiest way is to either find a practice where everyone (o at least some) of the other doctors only work 4 days per week or offer something to make up for taking a full day off. A VA offered me a 4 day a week job but instead of 8-5 I would have worked 7:30-5:30 on those 4 days.
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