Family Med

[SKM]

Hey guys. What are some things/procedures a family doctor could do to increase their income when working as part of a group practice?

[Jochi1543]

You could acquire a specially trained nurse for your practice to take a lot of the simple but lengthy appointments off your list. Most practices have a nurse diabetes educator who will look after all your q3mo DM reviews. We see them after, but it really simplifies our lives to have her notes (and occasional recommendations for changes) in the chart so we can get in and out within a few minutes. In my preceptor's practice, the same nurse also does all the well-child exams and some of the prenatals - not the important benchmark ones, of course. She then notifies the physician if there are any concerns that require the Dr's attention. Otherwise, the docs literally drop in to say hi and that's it. It's very helpful and lets us focus on the more medical side of things.

 

You could do more procedures - biopsies and IUDs. You could also do ob if you are willing to sacrifice an occasional night of sleep. That leads to having a high volume of simple prenatal visits in your practice and deliveries pay quite well. Naturally, this comes with a less flexible lifestyle.