Opening a Private Ophthalmology Practice - Part I: Seven Pearls
By Kathy A. Mayo, DO and George L. Mayo, MD
It is with great privilege for us to be engaged in the stimulating, challenging and intellectually rewarding field of Ophthalmology. Transitioning into a private practice can be an overwhelming experience. In an ongoing series we will be examining aspects of the process of opening a private ophthalmology practice. In this article we present seven pearls from our own experience in opening a private retina practice.
1. Join a club, join a second club, and then another club. This is important advice. We recommend joining a local social club, such as a Yacht Club or Country club. Although memberships can be pricey, the contacts will be invaluable, both is setting up your initial team of experts, outlined below, and ultimately in growing your practice. Also join your local medical and ophthalmology societies, as well as the Chamber of Commerce for your cities and adjacent cites.
2. Do not underestimate the amount of room you will need. It’s tempting to economize on space, but you have to be ready to spend 5 years in your initial location. During that time you will be adding staff as your practice grows. Extra rooms can become additional imaging or procedure suites that will optimize your efficiency. While purchasing or building office space is a good long-term goal, renting the first office makes more sense. Renting can minimize both risk and requisite capital. In today’s market and in most regions of the country, you can negotiate aggressively for office space rentals. We recommend allowing your attorney or real estate agent to handle the negotiations for you.
3. Don’t try to go it alone. Highly educated, intelligent people often feel that they don’t need to hire someone to do something that they can “figure out” on their own. While this is undoubtedly true and can often be the best course if you are trying to complete a particular task, it is a mistake to take this route when opening a practice. You will literally be following a hundred different paths simultaneously and need a team of experts, not to get you out of trouble but to keep you from getting into trouble in the first place. Each member will need to be vetted, but ultimately you will need an attorney, an accountant, a practice consultant, a banker, an insurance agent, and an information technology consultant.
4. Get an iPhone. Opening an ophthalmology practice is perhaps the ultimate exercise in multitasking. We believe that there is no better product available to help you do this than an iPhone. There won’t be any time to waste, and with email, the web, and your contacts in your hand you will get things done much faster. We estimate that the iPhone has quadrupled our efficiency during the startup period.
5. Order business cards. Once you have decided to open a practice, go ahead and start designing your cards. If you’re artistic, go ahead and draw out what you want. If graphic design is your thing, go for it. If you’re going to struggle for hours, hire a designer/graphic artist to do it for you. If you start early, then you’ll only have to have your address and phone number inserted once you get them. This way, you will have the cards ready when you need them.
6. Do not apply for Medicare. This sounds like the wrong advice, but the reality is that Medicare wants you to wait until you start seeing Medicare patients, and then apply. Once you are seeing patients, then you start the application process, which takes about four months to complete. You save all claims and submit them once you are approved. Medicare will accept claims for up to one year during your initial start up.
7. Do not underestimate the magnitude of the task. Opening a practice can sound easy. One of my professors told me, “Just open the door and patients will start showing up. I don’t know anyone that’s ever failed doing this.” Sounds great, and opening the door is the last step, but there are ten thousand steps that precede this. It will take six to eighteen months to complete all the necessary tasks to open your practice, depending on how much help you have and whether you are working full or part time. For us, it took the equivalent of 15 weeks, working 8 hours a day 5 days a week to approach being ready for opening day. If you have a spouse who can work part time or, as was our case, can quit her job to help with the start up, it will be time well spent to hurry the process along. As an excellent introduction, we recommend reading the medical economics article on the first steps of starting a practice.
It is with great privilege for us to be engaged in the stimulating, challenging and intellectually rewarding field of Ophthalmology. Transitioning into a private practice can be an overwhelming experience. In an ongoing series we will be examining aspects of the process of opening a private ophthalmology practice. In this article we present seven pearls from our own experience in opening a private retina practice.
1. Join a club, join a second club, and then another club. This is important advice. We recommend joining a local social club, such as a Yacht Club or Country club. Although memberships can be pricey, the contacts will be invaluable, both is setting up your initial team of experts, outlined below, and ultimately in growing your practice. Also join your local medical and ophthalmology societies, as well as the Chamber of Commerce for your cities and adjacent cites.
2. Do not underestimate the amount of room you will need. It’s tempting to economize on space, but you have to be ready to spend 5 years in your initial location. During that time you will be adding staff as your practice grows. Extra rooms can become additional imaging or procedure suites that will optimize your efficiency. While purchasing or building office space is a good long-term goal, renting the first office makes more sense. Renting can minimize both risk and requisite capital. In today’s market and in most regions of the country, you can negotiate aggressively for office space rentals. We recommend allowing your attorney or real estate agent to handle the negotiations for you.
3. Don’t try to go it alone. Highly educated, intelligent people often feel that they don’t need to hire someone to do something that they can “figure out” on their own. While this is undoubtedly true and can often be the best course if you are trying to complete a particular task, it is a mistake to take this route when opening a practice. You will literally be following a hundred different paths simultaneously and need a team of experts, not to get you out of trouble but to keep you from getting into trouble in the first place. Each member will need to be vetted, but ultimately you will need an attorney, an accountant, a practice consultant, a banker, an insurance agent, and an information technology consultant.
4. Get an iPhone. Opening an ophthalmology practice is perhaps the ultimate exercise in multitasking. We believe that there is no better product available to help you do this than an iPhone. There won’t be any time to waste, and with email, the web, and your contacts in your hand you will get things done much faster. We estimate that the iPhone has quadrupled our efficiency during the startup period.
5. Order business cards. Once you have decided to open a practice, go ahead and start designing your cards. If you’re artistic, go ahead and draw out what you want. If graphic design is your thing, go for it. If you’re going to struggle for hours, hire a designer/graphic artist to do it for you. If you start early, then you’ll only have to have your address and phone number inserted once you get them. This way, you will have the cards ready when you need them.
6. Do not apply for Medicare. This sounds like the wrong advice, but the reality is that Medicare wants you to wait until you start seeing Medicare patients, and then apply. Once you are seeing patients, then you start the application process, which takes about four months to complete. You save all claims and submit them once you are approved. Medicare will accept claims for up to one year during your initial start up.
7. Do not underestimate the magnitude of the task. Opening a practice can sound easy. One of my professors told me, “Just open the door and patients will start showing up. I don’t know anyone that’s ever failed doing this.” Sounds great, and opening the door is the last step, but there are ten thousand steps that precede this. It will take six to eighteen months to complete all the necessary tasks to open your practice, depending on how much help you have and whether you are working full or part time. For us, it took the equivalent of 15 weeks, working 8 hours a day 5 days a week to approach being ready for opening day. If you have a spouse who can work part time or, as was our case, can quit her job to help with the start up, it will be time well spent to hurry the process along. As an excellent introduction, we recommend reading the medical economics article on the first steps of starting a practice.
posted by MedRounds Publications at 9:21 PM
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