Can one set up a PFT and CPET in one's private office?

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NewYorkDoctors

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Hello.

For the outpatient pulmonologists out there:

If a group of pulmonologists have to start a new practice and have the office space and the real estate to fit all of these devices, are there steps to take to do this?

Besides actually buying all of the machines and keeping them well maintained and hiring a respiratory therapist of course.

Are there licensing or accreditation steps to take?

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The real question is how long it will take you to make back your nut in that investment before you start making any money. PFTs by themselves don't pay a lot but they can add up (almost every patient needs one!!). Unless you can find a schtick for the CPETs (maybe getting all the local serious athletes to have a go at it for cash) you'll likely not do enough for it to pay off for a long time. A full time RT is like ~$18/hr depending on the market plus or minus their benefits.
 
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Thanks for the input. Just toying with some investment ideas for myself and a few PCCM colleagues for years down the line. I'll probably learn this stuff in due time in PCCM fellowship.

Though this area we are eyeing only has the local hospital's PFT labs and most patients cannot easily go to that hospital. Maybe getting a "local" PFT lab for the community may be worthwhile. Having a private CPET may not be so useful after all.

Further, maybe get some cardiologists on board and then piggy back the CPET onto the exercise stress test? Again, I am speaking as someone who has not yet gotten the intricacies of respiratory lab logistics.
 
A full time RT is like ~$18/hr depending on the market plus or minus their benefits.

So this definitely isn't the most important point in this discussion, but I just felt I should point out that outside of very low cost of living areas, most RT's are going to want something closer to the prevailing market wage. Median hourly rate nationally is about $28. I'm not sure where NewYorkDoctors practices, but actually using NY as an example, the median salary would be closer to $35/hr.

Not exactly a backbreaking expense, but still definitely something to keep in mind when considering expenses and return on investment.
 
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