Starting a Medical Practice

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florida healthcare attorneyBy: Jeff Cohen

Medical school may teach you all you need to know about how to care for people medically, but it won’t teach you how to package that into a sustainable business.  Here are some of things you’ll need to tackle when you do move into practicing medicine:

Licensure.  The first step of course is to be licensed to practice medicine in Florida.  Make sure you allow more than enough time to go through the process, especially if there are any holidays during the application period.  And if the application gets slowed down for some reason, reach out to an attorney who deals directly with the Board of Medicine to see what can be done to expedite the process.  If you’re expecting to start employment with an employer, make sure the start date is flexible to bend with the unforeseeable licensure delays.

Become an Employee or an Employer.  Nearly every physician starts out as an employee because they are still honing their skills and don’t want or need the distraction of business issues early on.  Things like HR, IT, billing and collection are overwhelming at first, and most younger physicians don’t have access to loans necessary to get started.  This means most will start out as an employee of a medical practice, a hospital or a university.  As such, getting legal counsel on board to help navigate the contract is essential.  And the one thing to find out is what sort of experience the lawyer has in such matters. Continue reading