Medical school equips physicians with the skills to care for patients but often leaves them unprepared for the business side of running a medical practice. Here are some crucial considerations for physicians before opening their own practice.
Business Expectations: Most professionals (not just doctors) think if they’re amazingly good at what they do, patients will flock to them. Not true at all, especially in this digital marketing age where our attention is the commodity. Marketing and sales and administration is at least as important as excellent clinical skills. If you’re not prepared to build a marketing business that provides medical services, you’re setting yourself up for an expensive lesson in business in the modern era.
Florida Medical Licensing:
To practice medicine in Florida, you must be licensed by the state (the Board of Medicine). While it may seem straightforward, many doctors inquire about reciprocity, mistakenly believing they don’t need a Florida license if they’re licensed elsewhere. Timing and completeness are key here. Allow more time than you think you’ll need, especially around holidays. If your application is delayed, consult an attorney specializing in Board of Medicine matters to expedite the process. Omitting pertinent information can lead to delays or denials, so seek help from a Florida healthcare lawyer to ensure your application is complete and accurate. Flexibility in your start date can accommodate any unforeseen licensing delays.
Deciding Between Employee and Employer:
Most new physicians lack the experience, interest, or capital to start their own practice immediately. Therefore, many begin as employees in existing medical practices, hospitals, or universities. It’s crucial to get a Florida healthcare lawyer experienced in physician employment contracts rather than relying on lawyers from unrelated fields. Expert advice can save you money and headaches in the long run, especially now given the confusion about noncompetes and such. Starting an employment relationship with an assumption that the noncompete you signed isn’t enforceable is a disaster. Don’t use your neighbor or a friend doing you a favor because he’s a (real estate) lawyer.
The Physician Entrepreneur:
For those with an entrepreneurial spirit, one option is to explore recruitment packages from local hospitals. These packages typically offer income guarantees and various forms of financial support, which are usually forgiven over several years.
Physicians wanting to start their own practice will need to form a legal entity. Common choices in Florida include professional corporations (P.A.s) and LLCs (or PLLCs). A single physician can easily form a legal entity, but multiple physicians will need an operating agreement or shareholders agreement. These documents cover decision-making processes, loan arrangements, overhead allocation, and protocols for events like the death or disability of a physician owner. While forming a corporation can be quick, preparing ownership-related documents can take months, depending on availability. Even more perplexing is this: while getting to Medicare is a snap, getting on commercial payer panels is a panicky endeavor. “What do you mean you’re closed.?” “Can payers do that?” Yep, let’s talk!
Additional Considerations:
Contracting with managed care payers and building out office space can also be time-consuming. As a general rule, plan for everything to take twice as long and cost twice as much as initially anticipated.
Opening a medical practice involves significant planning and numerous legal and business considerations. Seeking expert advice early can streamline the process and help ensure long-term success.
Starting a medical practice requires meticulous planning and adherence to healthcare regulations. By addressing these business considerations and by creating a team, that can bring all the solutions to the table (not just legal stuff), healthcare providers can establish a successful and compliant practice that meets the needs of their patients while achieving financial stability. It’s easy to get in business. It’s not easy to stay in business. And a lot of that depends on what you know and do up front!
