Medical Director Suboxone Clinic

[Algiatrist]

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Hey all,

I wonder if anyone on the forum has experience with this. Since I do have a board certification in Addiction and have kept a modest number of Suboxone patients in my practice, I've been approached by a small start-up practice to come on as their Medical Director of their suboxone clinic. I would be supervising one PA and one NP, though I am not required to see patients directly.

I know both practitioners and their well-trained and very legit. I have no idea what I should be asking for in terms of compensation. Even though I won't be seeing patients directly, I plan to regularly meet with the mid-levels to discuss their thinking processes and address any clinical concerns.

Anybody's guess as to what these types of medical director's make? Do I ask for a stipend, or a percentage of the profits, or both?

Snarky remarks need not reply (I'm looking at you Canton-🙂)

 

[willabeast]

My comment is not snarky, it is from the heart. Could you really be happy in this job? 10 years from now being medical director of a Suboxone clinic would you feel as if you are really helping people and living up to whatever reason you went to medical school? Would you look forward to going to work every day? What will be your job prospects if Suboxone becomes unfashionable?

 

[Algiatrist]

Thanks for the reply!

I may not have been clear in my original post, but this position is purely ancillary, and not my primary occupation.
Further, why wouldn't helping people who want a way out from their opioid dependency be a rewarding opportunity for a clinician? Granted MAT is harm reduction and not an abstinence based mindset, but I believe any intervention in which someone can recover themselves and at least try to get their lives back on track is worth the effort.
As far as job prospects, the opioid crisis will take a multi-faceted effort in order to defeat it. This is why Addiction Medicine has just become an ABMS recognized subspecialty under Preventive Medicine. I am positive that Suboxone will one day become obsolete as better treatments are developed. I look forward to employing any new treatment that can help in this fight.

 

[Ducttape]

just wait... drcommsense will see your post and start calling you a suboxone pimp....

 

[drusso]

Hey all,

I wonder if anyone on the forum has experience with this. Since I do have a board certification in Addiction and have kept a modest number of Suboxone patients in my practice, I've been approached by a small start-up practice to come on as their Medical Director of their suboxone clinic. I would be supervising one PA and one NP, though I am not required to see patients directly.

I know both practitioners and their well-trained and very legit. I have no idea what I should be asking for in terms of compensation. Even though I won't be seeing patients directly, I plan to regularly meet with the mid-levels to discuss their thinking processes and address any clinical concerns.

Anybody's guess as to what these types of medical director's make? Do I ask for a stipend, or a percentage of the profits, or both?

Snarky remarks need not reply (I'm looking at you Canton-🙂)

The most important thing to emphasize when brokering this kind of deal is how important it is that EVERYONE be incentivized TOGETHER for the SAME things. To that end, I would ask for a straight percentage of collections. That way you're incentivized to keep the clinic running smoothly, grow the project's profitability, reduce no-shows, improve efficiency, and provide safe, high quality care to everyone. You will all succeed together or fail together.

I would lead by saying, "I want skin in the game." Once you get in that frame of negotiation--a pure productivity frame--then you can look to create more mutual value around things that are important to them. Do they want more professional development for their mid-levels? You can do that. Do they want you to do public relations, rain-making, and marketing for the clinic? You can do that too. All of these things become leverage to close the best deal you can.

Still, it all starts with understanding their needs. Once you understand THEIR needs, then the real tackling and blocking of getting the deal done is just like the Price is Right: Higher? Lower?