Volume of patients and paperwork

[deleted647155]

How many patients per clinic day do dermatologists see in community practice? Does this translate into a lot of paperwork, notes, phone calls? How many hours do you spend after work on non-clinical, admin stuff? Do you take call?

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[asmallchild]

How many patients per clinic day do dermatologists see in community practice? Does this translate into a lot of paperwork, notes, phone calls? How many hours do you spend after work on non-clinical, admin stuff? Do you take call?

This is the kind of thing that's best addressed via shadowing.

Shadow a private practice doc. Shadow an academic doc. Shadow a couple because everyone's numbers / schedules / techniques / practice flows vary.

I'm in private practice, I am almost purely surgical at this point, I don't see any more than 20 cases/day. My practice has EMR and my MAs scribe for me within the EMR. All phone calls get routed to a patient service rep so it is rare I make direct contact with patients via phone (although some of my colleagues prefer to). I take my own home call.

 

[dermie1985]

How many patients per clinic day do dermatologists see in community practice? Does this translate into a lot of paperwork, notes, phone calls? How many hours do you spend after work on non-clinical, admin stuff? Do you take call?

This is highly variable depending on practice-type, setting, geography, etc (these are the kinds of questions you can ask in a job interview). I know dermatologists who see 20 patients a day. I also know dermatologists who see between 80-100 patients per day.

Generally, if you work in an independent private practice setting as a general dermatologist (I assume that's what you're describing?), you'll have to see more volume of patients to make the same $$$$ because the reimbursement is lower if you're not affiliated with a larger organization (less bargaining power with insurance companies). You can hire more MAs, scribes, etc. to increase efficiency, but these also cost $$$$$. The benefit is you get more flexibility and independence in decision making about how your job looks.

 

[MOHS_01]

This is highly variable depending on practice-type, setting, geography, etc (these are the kinds of questions you can ask in a job interview). I know dermatologists who see 20 patients a day. I also know dermatologists who see between 80-100 patients per day.

Generally, if you work in an independent private practice setting as a general dermatologist (I assume that's what you're describing?), you'll have to see more volume of patients to make the same $$$$ because the reimbursement is lower if you're not affiliated with a larger organization (less bargaining power with insurance companies). You can hire more MAs, scribes, etc. to increase efficiency, but these also cost $$$$$. The benefit is you get more flexibility and independence in decision making about how your job looks.

I'll just add that the law of diminishing returns and overhead creep are very, very real; the more you want to do, the more the administrative help required. The more administrative help required, the more mouths to feed. The more mouths to feed, the higher the monthly fixed cost. The higher the monthly fixed cost, the higher the cost of days out / vacation / illness / family emergencies / etc. The faster you try to spin the wheel, the harder you have to run to keep up with it.

Don't become the architect of your own prison, a slave of your own making.