Frequently Asked Questions

We have a range of services available that can help you start your Private Practice. You can determine the amount of assistance you would like. Our most basic service is a straight-forward detailed list of more than 50 tasks that are necessary for you to complete in order to create your Private Practice. Our most involved services are where we do most of the work for you to start your practice. In-between, we progressively add more of the services that your practice will need, creating high- value options.

Regardless of the services selected, we offer most of what your practice will need on an ongoing basis. You can choose to seek these services from various other companies individually, but for the sake of convenience we do offer all of these to you: accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, attorney, employee benefits, business insurance, medical malpractice insurance, marketing, website design, IT services, and more. We can be one-contact for all of the needs of your practice.

The typical practice start-up takes 3-6 months before you will be able to start seeing patients. Much of this time depends on credentialing and licensing requirements which there is minimal control over.

There are a few main reasons doctors choose to start a Private Practice. The most common reason is frustration with the restrictions of employment. Rules, policies, and the administrative hierarchy of employment limit the ability of the doctor to make improvements that would benefit their patients and themselves. In private practice, you can create the practice that you feel is best for yourself and your patients.

Other common reasons to start a private practice include creating a better work/life balance, the desire to develop a unique or niche practice, or the ability to earn a higher income. If any of these reasons sound intriguing, then Private Practice may be right for you.

According to the Medscape 2021 Physician Burnout Report, the most recent estimate is that over 40% of all physicians feel burned out. So you are not alone! Doctors cite frustrations with bureaucratic tasks, long hours at work, insufficient compensation, and lack of control in their practice as the biggest contributing factors to their burnout.

Creating a better work/life balance by reducing their work hours is the most common way doctors alleviate their burnout. This allows them the time to engage in activities that improve their mental health: hobbies, exercise, spending more time with family and friends, and getting more sleep!

In Private Practice, you can avoid bureaucratic tasks in your office, you can spend less time at work, and you can make any other changes you desire. Making changes that minimize the cause of your burnout should lead to a more enjoyable and sustainable career. So the answer is “yes,” private practice can help with burnout.

One last note of evidence that starting a private practice can help with burnout is that burnout is highest among doctors who are in larger multispecialty groups, and lowest in smaller single-specialty offices or solo practices where doctors have the ability to make the necessary changes.

It is not difficult to create your own Private Practice. Most doctors who start their own Private Practice have never started a business before. If thousands of other doctors have created a successful practice without any special knowledge, then you can do this too. The steps to create your practice are relatively easy to accomplish. The only thing you need to do is keep moving forward with each task. We can make this easier for you by walking you through the process and even taking on some of the tasks for you if you would like.

If you have already started building your practice and come to a point that you would like some assistance, Physicians Thrive can help you out. We will review what you have already done and determine what you need to do next to get your practice running.

If you already know what needs to be done, but you just want to hand off the process to us, our team can take on whatever you direct us to.

We have a team that provides Practice Management and Business Advisor Services which can help evaluate the operations and financial stability of your practice. We make recommendations that will help enhance the efficiency of your practice and take it to the next level.

Physicians Thrive is a resource to you for any questions that may arise throughout the year. Our team consists of Medical, Business Development, and Financial Analysts who work together to come up with a plan that will meet your needs.

Always in our focus is the recognition that your goals for your practice are unique. We tailor our evaluation and recommendations to your specific goals instead of to standard benchmarks, which are simply averages and not necessarily representative of the needs of your practice.

For the standard office model, it may take $100,000 – $120,000 or more to obtain your equipment and supplies, as well as cover rent for your office space and employee wages for a few months before you start to see a positive cash flow. This depends on many factors, such as what equipment is necessary for your specialty, how many rooms you will be using, how many employees you will have, the cost of living in your location, etc.

There are various ways to significantly reduce this start-up cost. You can purchase used medical equipment. You can avoid paying high office rent by using office space from doctors who have extra space or who don’t use their office on certain days of the week. You can run an ultra-low overhead practice, where you have only one exam room and one employee. You can create a practice where you travel to the work or home of your patient, eliminating your need for office space and employees. And other ways to minimize costs as your creativity determines.

For a typical practice it may take 2-3 years to pay back the loan, depending on how much you borrow, how much you earn, and how quickly you want to pay it back.

Yes. There are a couple of ways to secure funding for this endeavor. Several large US banks have lending programs specifically for doctors who want to start their own private practice. These bans will require a Business Plan when you apply. We can assist you with developing a business plan if you would like. We can’t guarantee that any particular lender will approve your request, but our Business Plan will ensure a professional document to accompany your application. You can also negotiate with the local hospital to cover your start-up expenses (including our Private Practice Start-Up Service!). You can also negotiate for a guaranteed income during the start-up process. Hospitals know that every physician coming to their area will generate $2-3 million of revenue per year for the hospital due to the tests and procedures they will generate. So hospitals have an incentive for you to practice in their area, regardless of whether you are employed or in private practice. If you would like assistance in this area, we can negotiate on your behalf with the local hospital.

Yes. A group practice will require a Partnership Agreement, which will differ for every group depending on the desires of the group. We can create this document for you after consulting with you. In addition, we can assist with the tasks and logistics of starting the practice.

The time it takes can vary greatly. As a general guideline, it may take 2-3 months from the time you start seeing patients to generate a positive cash flow. This will depend on the number of patients you see, your billing cycle, and your expenses.