Private practice vs partnership

[deleted357625]

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What is the pros and cons of both.
Which one is more beneficial, establishing a private practice of your own or working with a partner?

 

[Catalystik]

A private practice can be either a solo practice, a single-specialty group or a multispecialty group.

If you're in a specialty that gets a lot of phone calls regardless of time of day (like primary care), then more partners with the same specialty means fewer busy call nights.

 

[gettheleadout]

It depends on what you mean by beneficial; if you mean financially, then working alone would keep more profit for yourself, whereas if you work with partners you'll split it more ways, but Catalystik is right that it seriously eases your stress to have partners, more so in some specialties than others.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

Financially that isn't always the case. If you want to make more money, you need to work in an environment that has a larger volume. An established group can offer a more attractive salary because there is already a sustained volume of patients seen from the last 3 years. After a patient hasn't been seen in three years, the patient is considered a new patient.

A solo practice can be lucrative but it will take several years to build up the volume to make it financially rewarding.

For most specialties the best (for specialized care) is a physician group of 5-13. That way you can have projected monthly revenue of around $400k to $1 million a month. Depending on how the group manages the money, the clinic could pay for your insurance. If you run a solo practice, you will need to flip the bill all on your own.

I think it mostly depends on the efficiency of the business. This is true for a solo practice or a larger group practice. A solo doc running low overhead and keeping his patients moving is going to make more than a doc in a large group with lots of staff and slow turnaround.

OP, just as a side note, your two options aren't really dichotomous. A better set of options is a) private practice or b) employee. Doctors can be employees in a variety of settings. Hospitals can employ doctors outright, or large HMOs like Kaiser can employ doctors. Similarly the government employs doctors at the VA. In each case, you are paid a flat salary, but probably expected to see a certain number of patients per week.

As for financials, an efficient, busy, self-employed doctor will out earn an employee-doctor any day. A doctor who has no business sense and can't keep his appointment slots full will make less.

As for other pros and cons, they're kinda a double-edged sword. If you want to have complete control, go solo or a small group. You'll have decisions over hiring/firing, where you're located, and how you run your practice. However, if you suck at those things, or don't want to handle them, a larger group or employee-type position might ease the burden on things you don't want to do.