Practice Management

Physicians writing on KevinMD about running a practice: staffing and overhead, the payer paperwork that arrives with every patient, ownership and consolidation, the administrators and executives who now employ most physicians, and the models physicians have built to get out from under all of it. Four maintained records draw on this archive: Primary care: what physicians say, in their own words, Direct primary care: what physicians say, in their own words, Physicians and administrators: what physicians say about who runs medicine, in their own words, and Private equity and corporate medicine: what physicians say, in their own words.

Doctors order a lot of tests. That applies to personal finance.

Wall Street Physician, MD

Physician Finance

April 30, 2018

Doctors order a lot of tests.

Let’s be clear, most of these tests are quite good and help with diagnosis and management. They can help hone down a wide differential diagnosis to a single diagnosis. Once a diagnosis is made, additional tests can help guide physicians on the best treatment.

But there are some tests which are not necessary to order. In some scenarios, the next step in management (whether it be …

Physicians: Find your “why” to help with burnout

Brandon Shaw, DO

Physician

April 28, 2018

So physician burnout is real. Most physicians understand this because on any given day — we are living it: falling reimbursements, growing regulation, too little time with loved ones, pathetic sleep schedules and massive debt. And as The Physician Philosopher, MD, so aptly pointed out recently on KevinMD, finding our “why” can be part of the cure and our reason for getting up in the …

What are you teaching your children about money?

Cory Fawcett, MD

Physician Finance

April 27, 2018

Kids watch our every move. Who hasn’t seen a young boy who imitates what his dad does. Even to the point of standing, just like dad, leaning up against a railing with his legs crossed, and a piece of straw hanging out of his mouth. They hear what we say at home and around the dinner table, especially when we are not talking to them. They watch how we spend …

Moonlighting is the side hustle for the not so lazy

DocG, MD

Physician Finance

April 26, 2018

Physicians-in-training make a pittance when one looks at the hourly rate, Especially when I was residency, in the early 2000’s. I often worked upwards of 100 hrs per week and made $30,000 per year. The first year, called internship, is replete with long hours and crushing responsibilities. Opportunities to make an extra buck are all but impossible. In the second and third years, however, there is much more elective time. During these …

Taking risks and the costs of inaction

Passive Income, MD

Physician Finance

April 25, 2018

Every day, we’re presented with choices. Some are larger than others, and though some make little difference in the grand scheme of things, some choices can be life-altering. In life and in business, when we have a big decision to make, it’s all too easy to err on the side of caution–sometimes to our personal or financial detriment. It’s human nature.

But what is it that keeps us from making tough …

Read more…

Taking risks and the costs of inaction

When life goals and financial goals clash

James Turner, MD

Physician Finance

April 24, 2018

The sister of one of my best friends went off the deep end in college. We will call her Trinity. She got caught up in the wrong crowd, made some bad decisions, and ended up dropping out of college. The direction that Trinity ended up going was really distressing to her parents. The crazy part? They blamed it on the college that she attended.

This was completely ironic, because she originally …

How physicians can calculate their savings rate

Wall Street Physician, MD

Physician Finance

April 23, 2018

The savings rate in America is abysmal. As a result, many Americans rely on Social Security and pensions to fund their retirement.

However, physicians would not be able to maintain their lifestyle on Social Security payments alone. And few physicians receive pensions from their employers. Therefore, they have to fund the majority of their retirement through savings.

But how do you define savings rate? Let me count the ways. Do you use gross …

A physician-entrepreneur’s typical clinical day

Suneel Dhand, MD

Physician

April 22, 2018

I frequently get asked how I balance my schedule as a physician who is also involved in lots of different things outside of clinical medicine. As any reader of my blog knows, I like to stay busy! As well as my work as a frontline physician (which I absolutely love and have no intention of ever leaving)- – doing a mixture of inpatient and outpatient work, I also am involved …

Why physicians should beware of 0% financing deals

James M. Dahle, MD

Physician Finance

April 22, 2018

A frequent topic seen on this site and many other sites, blogs, and forums are the merits of using very low-interest financing for various things. The attraction is obvious. Not only do you not have to have the cash up front, but even if you do, surely you can do better investing than 0%, and if you borrow at 0% and earn at anything better than 0%, then you come …

6 things this physician learned after retiring

Cory Fawcett, MD

Physician Finance

April 20, 2018

In February 2017, I saw my last patient and left clinical medicine. Most people would say I retired. I have chosen to say I have repurposed. I no longer see patients, but I still work. I am writing the Doctors Guide series of books, keeping up a blog and working with physicians who need help with a financial makeover, usually to eliminate their debt, set themselves up for retirement or …

How physicians can start lazy side hustles

DocG, MD

Physician Finance

April 19, 2018

How do I start a side hustle?

I have heard this plea so often, It is no wonder there are many how to blog posts trying to answer this exact question. As helpful as they may be, most of the ideas espoused are both time and energy-consuming. For instance, starting a blog is great! But if you want to truly make money, be prepared to put in full-time hours. Or Read more…

How physicians can start lazy side hustles

Physician well-being must be the standard of medicine

Dianne Ansari-Winn, MD, MPH

Physician

April 17, 2018

I’ve interviewed many doctors on my podcast The Doctor’s Life. They share their stories of how they came to medicine and how they developed into the physicians that they are today. There are three common themes in these “origin stories”:

The first is that many of the doctors were mentored by a physician who inspired them to pursue medicine. The second is that they were “called” …

Physicians: What are your endpoints in personal finance?

Wall Street Physician, MD

Physician Finance

April 16, 2018

Every physician, especially those who work in oncology, have read their fair share of clinical trials. In order to advance the field of medicine, you need to test new drugs against the current best treatment, or the standard of care.

Some trials succeed, and we make progress in our fight against cancer, or hypertension, or HIV. Some trials fail, and these new treatments are discarded.

When designing a clinical trial, you need to …

Emergency physicians are glorified secretaries with medical degrees

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

April 15, 2018

We had a pretty busy shop when I was in residency. So busy, in fact, that we had three secretaries working simultaneously — one for paging, one for order entry, and one for admissions. I haven’t been back there in a long time, but I hope the secretarial staff has grown commensurately with the volume and acuity of the ED. But from what I’ve seen around the country in my …

11 physician finance lessons from The Greatest Showman

James M. Dahle, MD

Physician Finance

April 15, 2018

I love movies. Not the artsy types that win awards; I most enjoy the big, expensive popcorn blockbusters that take you away to a different time and place. However, as our income and wealth has grown, we’ve maintained a few of our “cheapskate” habits from when we were poor. One of these is we see almost all of our movies at the “dollar theater,” a second-run theater where the entire …

Do whatever it takes to have fun and spend time with your family before it is too late

Cory Fawcett, MD

Physician Finance

April 13, 2018

Recently I had three important events happen during a three day period that reminded me of the brevity of our life and the need to live life to the fullest every day.

On July 4th, having planned celebratory events that day with friends and family, a CRNA in my home town awoke feeling poorly just before sun up. He was in great health the day before and lived a very active …

Financial independence: the story of the 3 brothers

DocG, MD

Physician Finance

April 12, 2018

There was once three brothers who set off on the journey of a lifetime by embarking on three separate roads. Each brother was uniquely different, and quickly these roads diverged.

It was believed that the eldest brother was most wise because his path was clear and straight.

The middle brother was a strong walker but easily distracted. It was hard to keep him concentrated on the task at hand.

And finally, the youngest …

The “problem” of dying with too much money

Passive Income, MD

Physician Finance

April 11, 2018

The fear of running out of money in retirement is very real. In fact, it’s the number one fear among older adults – even over declining health. According to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, 43% of adults surveyed said their greatest fear about retirement was outliving their savings and investments.

This very fear is what keeps people working well past what might have been their retirement age. It also makes people take …

These McDonald’s practices should be avoided in health care

Linda Girgis, MD

Physician

April 8, 2018

Few people can argue that health care is a business these days. Medical services are attached a price tag and patients are now customers. However, intrinsic to health care is a very high ethical code that doesn’t exist in other sectors. For example, if a patient shows up in the ER, they cannot be denied service, whether they are wearing shoes or not. While McDonald’s and other top companies are …

Find your why. It makes all the difference.

James Turner, MD

Physician Finance

April 8, 2018

On my site, I spend a lot of time talking finances. And I’ve yet to mention what is by far the best investment that I have ever taken part in. It has provided my best return on investment and biggest annual interest growth. It also requires the most work, but this investment is what keeps me in the market and sticking to the plan. In fact, it is “my why” …

Practice Management

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