Challenges in Opening Your Own Private Medical Practice

As many physicians have learned over time, opening your own private medical practice is one way to gain more control over your work. From hours of operation to personalized care options, running your own practice has many advantages. 

With that though, there are also a number of challenges practice owners may face as they move toward opening their own clinic, and we’ll be covering those today.

Financing

One of the biggest challenges when starting any business is finding the funding to get off the ground. Especially if you are a physician with loads of student debt, it is likely that you will need to source financing to open your own practice. 

It is recommended that you secure funding through an accredited financial institution with experience lending for healthcare operations.

Some of the costs associated with opening a medical practice include:

• Acquiring office space

• Purchasing equipment and software

• Purchasing medical and office supplies

• Purchasing insurance

• Hiring staff and physicians

For more information on the cost of starting a medical practice in Texas, check out this blog!

Rules and Regulations

On top of Federal regulations, every state has their own rules and regulations pertaining to healthcare practices. These rules can vary by state, so it is important to make sure you look into those specifically in the state where you plan to run your practice.

Medical License

Medical Licenses primarily serve to prove that you and your employees have completed the necessary certifications to allow them to practice medicine.

Requirements for this include a degree from an accredited medical university, clinical residency experience, and passing a national medical licensing exam.

State Board Certification

For every federal-level medical license or certification, there is likely a state-level counterpart that you will also need to make sure you have acquired.

National Provider Identification (NPI)

If you plan to provide healthcare as a service, you will be required to have an NPI, which is a 10-digit number assigned to your practice for identification in claims and transactions.

Register with the DEA

If anyone who works in your practice will be prescribing, distributing, or administering any type of medicine or medication, your practice will need to be registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Credentialing

Similar to state-specific government regulations, there are also highly regulated rules pertaining to Physician Credentialing in relation to a practice’s ability to accept insurance.

For more information on physician credentialing, we’ve outlined some strategies to help make sure credentialing in your private practice is as efficient as possible in this blog.

Insurance

Insurance coverage is likely an aspect of opening your own practice that you were aware of, but did you know that there are actually 4 different types of insurance policies your practice should have in your toolkit?

Medical Malpractice Insurance

Medical malpractice insurance is a type of professional liability insurance that provides coverage to your practitioners for liabilities that arise as a result of patient injury or death.

Not only is this type of insurance coverage important, it is crucial and often required by law.

General Liability Insurance

Any business will need to have general liability insurance coverage, simply because accidents happen, and you would only be doing yourself a favor by protecting yourself in the case of injury on your property.

Worker’s Compensation

As with most businesses, it is typically required by law that employers have worker’s compensation coverage, so as to cover costs that arise as a result of an employee’s injury or illness on-site.

Property Insurance

Finally, obtaining property insurance will provide you with security and peace of mind by having your covered in the event of property damage, theft, or vandalism.

Hiring & Administration

In addition to your in-house physicians and other healthcare professionals, you will also need to hire administrative staff in order to maintain day to day internal and external operations of your practice.

On top of these hiring protocol, you will also be responsible for creating administrative policies that your practice will follow, including:

• Employment Agreements

• Compensation Models

• Office Policies

• Hiring Protocol

• Training Procedures

Location

Choosing the best location for your private practice requires some strategic thinking. Who is your target demographic? Is your location optimal for those individuals? 

Making sure your practice is located somewhere visible and accessible that can accommodate the patient volumes you’re trying to achieve.

Finally, it is crucial that you make sure the building in which your practice is located is up to code and will pass any safety inspections in order to ensure the safety of you, your staff, and your patients.

Ultimately, there are so many aspects of opening your own medical practice that could present challenges, but we at 99MGMT hope that our tips help you avoid some of those obstacles preemptively.

For more information on practice management, check out the 99MGMT Blog!