The majority of physicians do not own their own practices any longer, but you may still be wondering if you should take the leap.
In this blog post, we’ll talk about some of the pros and cons of starting your own private practice, and whether it is something you wish to consider.
Remember, when it comes to deciding if you want to start a private practice, there are no wrong answers. You’ll want to do what is best for you personally, as well as professionally.
Read on for some of the pros and cons of starting your private practice.
Starting Your Own Private Practice: Pro #1: You’re Your Own Boss
The first pro to starting your own private practice is that you’re your own boss. While you’ll need to take care of patients and make sure they’re getting the care they need, essentially, you don’t answer to anyone.
This means you can’t be fired, and if you need to take time off, you’re able to do so without anyone asking questions.
You can also choose your own salary, providing you’re making enough to pay yourself dividends. The salary may be more or less than a group practice depending on the types of patients you treat, what insurance you take and how much you charge.
Pro #2: You Get a Say in Who Works for You
When you start a private practice, you’ll get a say as to who works for you and with you. When you’re working in a group practice, you don’t necessarily get to make the hiring decisions, and it can result in working with people you’d rather not associate yourself with.
Having your own private practice puts you in the driver’s seat, and allows you to choose your staff and co-workers without further fuss.
Pro #3: You Can Choose the Patients You Serve
While you don’t usually expressly state the type of patients you’d prefer, you can decide the type of patients you’d like to help by the way you’ve set up your business.
If you want to take insurance, that gives you a certain type of patient immediately. If you don’t want to take insurance, you’ll likely only get patients that are wealthy enough to pay out of pocket.
You can also decide to operate on a sliding scale or work with government insurance, which gives you the option of helping people who are underprivileged.
This gives you control over the clientele, which you don’t have when you work for someone else.
Con #1: You Have to Work from the Ground Up
Unless you’re a really well-known physician or therapist, you’ll have to work very hard to build your client roster. People don’t appear from out of nowhere, and if they’ve never heard of your practice, they may not wish to be associated with it.
Say, for example, you’re an oral surgeon. As an oral surgeon, you typically either work with a group practice or you strike out on your own. As an oral surgeon, you’re a specialist, so you’ll rely on dentists to send you patients that need more specialized care.
If you don’t have a good rapport with dentists in the area, they may send most of their patients to a competitor. Or, you may just not have patients coming in to make appointments with you because they don’t know you.
If you do have a private practice, you may want to have worked in the community previously so that you have an in with several other practices that could refer patients.
Con #2: You Have to Figure Out the Business Side of Things
Are you a good business person?
Chances are you didn’t go into your field because you love business and numbers. But if you open your own private practice, you’ll have to worry with the business end of things as well.
That means you’ll need to make sure that the accounting is correct, that you’ve paid your taxes properly and that you’re operating all within the business codes and parameters of your town and state.
Taking on something like this may be biting off more than you can chew because you’re simply not knowledgeable on how to run a business. When you work with a group, someone else takes care of that for you. But now, your name is on the line here.
Con #3: There is No Guaranteed Salary
When you work for a group practice, you get a consistent salary you can rely on. But when you own your own private practice, you have to make your own salary. While you can hope to pay yourself a certain amount, there is no guarantee you’ll be taking that home.
Many people find that they make a lot less with private practice than they did when working for a group. This is because they can’t predict the number of patients that will come in or how busy they’ll be.
What’s Best for You?
When it comes to starting your own private practice, there is no right or wrong answer. Ultimately, it comes down to what’s best for you and your obligations and style of work.
Remember, even if you decide to open up a private practice and it doesn’t work out, you can always go back to working in a group practice. There’s no law against trying and deciding something isn’t for you.
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