Day in the life of private practice

  • Thread starter Thread starter MrWonderful
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MrWonderful

Hi everybody. Soon I will be choosing my groups/priority for m3 rotations, and since Psych is my #1 I wanted to make sure I get exposure to PP. that said, everything is very impatient heavy, so I was hoping somebody wouldn't mind giving me an overview of their typical day in PP. I've searched around and haven't found a good "day in the life" thread within psych, but other specialities have really nicely laid out itineraries, for lack of a better word. Thanks.
 
Depends on the nature and type of work you want to do. There is no cookie cutter experience.

As drab as it sounds; I work, I go home. The work is the same, the environment is different.
 
I am a PGY-IV planning on private practice and have looked into your question. I agree with Shikima that things are extremely variable, but to break down into more specifics I think it depends on whether you are in:
-solo private practice
-small group private practice
-a large organization like Kaiser or a community hospital (which is 'private' as opposed to academic)

Within at least the first two the number of insurances you take (if any) also plays a significant role.

For solo: you will likely have a mix of patients who come to you for medication management (standard times could be from 20-30 mins, though some solo cash docs I have met do one hour med management visits which occur at less frequency than therapy would). You can also opt for integrated psychotherapy and medication management, though with insurance this may not reimburse as well and you may need to lean more heavily on cash pay patients to sustain a therapy-heavy practice, or choose the insurance with the most workable reimbursement options.

For a small group: you may work very similarly to how you would in a solo practice with the group taking a chunk of your billing in exchange for administrative/office/coverage etc assistance. You may also utilize that infrastructure (secretary, billing, more formal office setting) to see higher volumes of patients, often times with insurances. You can probably panel on more insurances and see more patients in this model, referring to therapists as appropriate (or choosing to keep them for therapy yourself as you wish).

For a large organization: I don't know enough to say. It sounds like you would take a "team leader" role in many of these settings handling diagnosis, medication management, referrals to other providers, oversight of psychotherapy and general disease course, etc.

You would also likely sprinkle in various other interests like consulting, supervising, speaking, researching, part-time work (moonlighting, ER, forensic, etc), and plenty of other options as desired and available.
 
This AM I checked my voicemail and found out that my intake canceled and I was like "woo hoo". I then spent some extra time with my son before dropping him off at daycare. I got to the office at around 9:30 and saw 2 med, and 1 therapy patient. I then spent about an hour checking mail, updating documents, answering phone calls and emails (responding to people who want unlimited refills without follow ups, 1 emergency). Grabbed some Chipotle across the street. I have 2 more med visits this afternoon. Now I am updating you on SDN. I will spend the rest of the afternoon answering calls and emails while updating our contract and website, checking supplies, and finalizing negotiations on a multi office suite.
 
This AM I checked my voicemail and found out that my intake canceled and I was like "woo hoo". I then spent some extra time with my son before dropping him off at daycare. I got to the office at around 9:30 and saw 2 med, and 1 therapy patient. I then spent about an hour checking mail, updating documents, answering phone calls and emails (responding to people who want unlimited refills without follow ups, 1 emergency). Grabbed some Chipotle across the street. I have 2 more med visits this afternoon. Now I am updating you on SDN. I will spend the rest of the afternoon answering calls and emails while updating our contract and website, checking supplies, and finalizing negotiations on a multi office suite.

When does the make money thing happen? Seems like seeing 5 patients a day isnt going to pay the bills.
 
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