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A Doctor with More than One Job During my training, I spent time in several doctors' offices and took note of their staff. All of these doctors were busy and, in most cases, they had an office manager, a receptionist/scheduler, a medical assistant, and a billing specialist. Unless you have a full schedule from day one, you will not have the need or funds for all of these positions. As a result, you and your first employee will fill all of these roles. I have one receptionist. She is responsible for answering the phones, scheduling patients, contacting patients to remind them of their appointments, checking insurance benefits, collecting co-pays, disputing claims, sterilizing instruments, and cleaning the office. Because the practice is new and not at full capacity she has plenty of time to complete all of her work. To find my receptionist, I placed a newspaper advertisement for a medical receptionist. As I mentioned before, advertising is very expensive. The Baltimore Sun, which is the major metropolitan newspaper in Baltimore City and its surrounding counties, charged several hundred dollars to run a two-line job advertisement for one day. Though this newspaper reaches over a million people each day and was more likely to generate many responses, given my resources, I looked for alternative ways to find help. Instead, I contacted the Baltimore Examiner, a free daily tabloid, and placed an ad for one-week for less than $100. Fortunately, I received several responses from the ad and it cost me very little. I interviewed several candidates but ultimately hired my receptionist from a family friend that worked with my employee for five years. During the interview process, I made it clear to prospective candidates that they would be doing all types of work in the practice. Fortunately, my original receptionist still works with me and has proven to be loyal, yet I kept all of the résumés of the candidates I liked in the event I needed to contact them. As a business owner, you have to know the ins and outs of all the roles in the office. Because I do my own medical billing, I am in constant communication with the insurance companies when there are questions regarding claims. I also sterilize instruments, clean the office (including wiping windows, vacuuming, mopping, and cleaning the toilet), order supplies, manage the books, manage the payroll, and market the practice. At one point in time, my receptionist was sick for a week and I was in the office by myself. I had to enter patient information into the office computer system, collect co-pays, and answer the phones. Although working several positions is hard, it allows you to learn about all aspects of your business and this is a fundamental key to success.
Hi Jordan, Enjoy your post. How's the practice start up going. About a 2 years into it right, I remember reading your initial post. Several questions: I am a ending 2nd of 3yr residency. I have sent out CV info to several ortho groups through device reps I know who mentioned the groups might be looking. As of 1.5mths out, I haven't heard anything yet. Podiatry is slow to blend with ortho here, I think it may be hard to do. I've had several podiatry "Come see me when You finish" sort of things but wanted to try the ortho thing first since my younger brother will be a ortho doc soon. Have also considered starting a practice like you have done but in a rural area with several satellite offices where I grew up but seems too saturated for the population/market. Any ideas. Starting Job search early,
Collin Ball, DPM EDITOR'S RESPONSE Collin, I sent letters to both podiatrist and ortho groups when looking for a job and got sparse responses from both. Unless someone is actively pursuing an associate it is unlikely to be overwhelmed by responses. I recommend following up with every letter you sent out, whether podiatrist or ortho group. I actually received a response from an ortho group 6 months after I sent my CV. They interviewed me the day before I had to make a decision about opening my own practice. They were unsure whether or not they wanted to hire a podiatrist or an orthopod. I had to make my own decision and went out on my own. Within the last month I was contacted by the same group to possibly work with them as they have decided they want a podiatrist. Unfortunately your need for a job position doesn't always fall in line with their time line to hire an employee. In my opinion a podiatrist should be part of every ortho group. It just depends on the groups outlook towards podiatry. In regards to starting your own practice, carefully research the area you are considering. Find out as much as you can about the other docs in the community including their age, training, patient population, etc...I am in a saturated area and am starting to get pretty busy. It can definitely work, you just need to be patient. Good luck. Jordan Thanks for the info. Just curious. On starting your own practice, what did/have you found to be the most effective Return on investments marketing efforts that you or others tried to get patients/referrals initially. In excess of being a good physician/surgeon. Collin EDITOR'S RESPONSE I'd have to say word of mouth and lecturing.... Jordan
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