Concierge, Direct Care, Hybrid—the many options for structuring a new practice can be confusing. How do you identify the best and most viable one for your individual situation?
With thousands of private medicine practices across the country, there’s great variation in how these practices are structured. Many factors go into determining what services to offer, how many patients are needed and what to charge, and how to design the most profitable model to make the transition to private medicine financially successful. It requires developing a business plan – taking a close look at the marketing, operational, and financial considerations to figure out how the pieces best fit together.
For some, the thought of developing a business plan may keep this beneficial tool at the top of the “Things to Avoid” list. If you are reluctant to commit to this critical planning step, you deprive your practice of the essentials it needs to thrive:
1) Become clear on goals to achieve. The decision to move to a private medicine solution is typically driven by both professional and personal goals. The business plan gives you the framework to clarify and list them, but just as importantly how and when you plan to meet them.2) Identify problems to solve. A business plan facilitates your thinking about how your model will serve the needs and interests of patients. This requires you to consider what your patients really want and value, and how your model will address those needs.
The plan will identify your unique value proposition, how much you think patients are willing to pay, and estimates the number of patients likely to join the practice.
3) Map the future of your business. Putting your thoughts on paper allows you to set out exactly what your strategies are and how you plan to run and grow your new practice. It forces you to review and evaluate your target market, marketing assumptions, and operational, staffing and financial needs.4) Avoid painful mistakes. If you’ve started selling memberships and realize things might not be going as well as you hoped, it’s tough to then adjust your business model and pricing, or take an otherwise different approach. Many doctors learn the hard way that they didn’t create a viable way to be profitable or set aside enough capital to reach their goals.Developing and sharing the business plan with business partners and advisors and those in your private life can provide confidence you’re moving down the right path.
5) Ground your journey in reality. At times during the start-up or transition experience, it may be difficult to stay focused and not be overwhelmed by doubt, fear, or fatigue. Having a business plan lets you step back and take a renewed and objective look at what you are doing and why, and what elements need to be flushed out further.
Developing the business plan is the first major step in making your transition to private medicine. The more answers anticipated ahead of time, and the better the marketing, financial and operational decisions are integrated, the stronger the blueprint you have for success.
Did you miss the first 2 mistakes? Read here for Mistake #1 “Going It Alone” and Mistake #2 “It’s All About You”.
