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I've been thinking about starting a cash private practice on the side after residency to supplement my primary income and add diversity to my work and also try something new and exciting without having to deal with the administrative hassles and significant overhead required in working with managed care.
However, I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of how a prospective patient would find me to schedule an appointment. If I could fill a private outpatient clinic 2 Saturday's per month (16 hours) to supplement my full-time income I'd be satisfied. But even 16 hours seems like a lot of hours to fill without the almighty insurance companies funneling patients my way.
Despite the high demand for psychiatrists, there seems to be less % of physicians private practice than there were several years ago. It also seems to me that many private practice psychiatrists are succumbing to accepting insurance despite their efforts to transition away. I'm sure the economy has something to do with this.
So anyways, I figured I'd start this thread for myself and residents who get little to no business experience during residency. There are some of us who want to go rogue and ditch managed care completely- I am highly skeptical this is a viable model for the average psychiatrist.
Assuming you are situated in an upper-middle class+ area. Here's a list I came up with for getting a prospective patient for a cash practice:
1. Create an internet presence (Google business, website, etc), however I can't imagine many people being like "oh boy let me find a psychiatrist that's out of network because I don't want to wait 1-3 months for an appointment... let me check google" unless they were pilots or doctors that need more privacy or rich trendy people in NYC that know of this loophole. Despite being in the information technology age I don't think very many people are looking up doctors on the internet unless it's a plastic surgeon or an anti-aging doctor. Maybe I'm overly biased here.
2. Yellow pages?
3. Contact nearby primary care providers and let them know you're starting a private practice (how exactly to contact them I'm not sure...fax? fliers? take them out to lunch?). To me this seems like the most effective strategy, but I could be wrong.
4. Write an article in the local newspaper
5. Advertise in the local newspaper
6. Public speaking (I'm not even sure where to begin or what avenues to take. ideas?)
7. Get on a physician directory
8. Hand out fliers (what are some good places to put fliers?)
9 Sell yourself on Craigslist (sinking too low?)
I'm not deluding myself into thinking that people are going to magically call my office for an appointment just because I graduated residency and my name is in the yellow pages. I also can't conceptualize how starting a private practice by initially accepting insurance, filling, then d/cing insurance panels and accepting cash only as a sustainable long-term model- but maybe I'm not understanding a fundamental aspect of this maneuver. Reputation and word of mouth are not in the equation at this point, but I'm not looking for a fortune- just a small practice on the side that is viable with sustainable growth. Some advice and perspective appreciated!
However, I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of how a prospective patient would find me to schedule an appointment. If I could fill a private outpatient clinic 2 Saturday's per month (16 hours) to supplement my full-time income I'd be satisfied. But even 16 hours seems like a lot of hours to fill without the almighty insurance companies funneling patients my way.
Despite the high demand for psychiatrists, there seems to be less % of physicians private practice than there were several years ago. It also seems to me that many private practice psychiatrists are succumbing to accepting insurance despite their efforts to transition away. I'm sure the economy has something to do with this.
So anyways, I figured I'd start this thread for myself and residents who get little to no business experience during residency. There are some of us who want to go rogue and ditch managed care completely- I am highly skeptical this is a viable model for the average psychiatrist.
Assuming you are situated in an upper-middle class+ area. Here's a list I came up with for getting a prospective patient for a cash practice:
1. Create an internet presence (Google business, website, etc), however I can't imagine many people being like "oh boy let me find a psychiatrist that's out of network because I don't want to wait 1-3 months for an appointment... let me check google" unless they were pilots or doctors that need more privacy or rich trendy people in NYC that know of this loophole. Despite being in the information technology age I don't think very many people are looking up doctors on the internet unless it's a plastic surgeon or an anti-aging doctor. Maybe I'm overly biased here.
2. Yellow pages?
3. Contact nearby primary care providers and let them know you're starting a private practice (how exactly to contact them I'm not sure...fax? fliers? take them out to lunch?). To me this seems like the most effective strategy, but I could be wrong.
4. Write an article in the local newspaper
5. Advertise in the local newspaper
6. Public speaking (I'm not even sure where to begin or what avenues to take. ideas?)
7. Get on a physician directory
8. Hand out fliers (what are some good places to put fliers?)
9 Sell yourself on Craigslist (sinking too low?)
I'm not deluding myself into thinking that people are going to magically call my office for an appointment just because I graduated residency and my name is in the yellow pages. I also can't conceptualize how starting a private practice by initially accepting insurance, filling, then d/cing insurance panels and accepting cash only as a sustainable long-term model- but maybe I'm not understanding a fundamental aspect of this maneuver. Reputation and word of mouth are not in the equation at this point, but I'm not looking for a fortune- just a small practice on the side that is viable with sustainable growth. Some advice and perspective appreciated!