A Simple Guide to Starting a Medical Practice

You’ve got your medical degree in your hands. Now you’re faced with a difficult decision. Do you go to work at a practice, or do you open one of your own?

While there are plenty of merits of the latter, many practitioners decide to go with the former. You’ll be able to work for yourself, and you get to decide how you practice medicine. There is a lot more work involved with opening your own office.

We can walk you through the many steps. Check out this guide to find out what goes into starting a medical practice and keeping it open.

Funding Your Practice 

Before you can start running the best medical office in your area, you’ll have to create a killer business plan. Here you’ll write down everything involving your practice. One of the most important things to include is your funding. 

Most people can’t pull the money they need for an entire building plus equipment and licensing out of their pocket. This is what loans are for.

It can be a little worrying to take out additional loans. After all, you’re probably still paying back the money you took out for your degree. Many doctors will refinance their student loans for this reason. 

If you know that you’re going to be strapped for cash, you can always partner up with another doctor or take over for one that’s close to retirement. 

Get Your Paperwork Out of the Way

The next step is getting all the legalities out of the way. You’ll have to go through credentialing if you want to be able to accept your patient’s medical insurance. This process can take a few months to get through. 

After that, you’ll have to choose a legal structure and get all your licenses. These can vary from state to state, so you’ll need to check with your local board to find out everything that you’re going to need. Otherwise, your time running a medical practice will be short-lived. 

Gather Your Equipment and Tools 

Your practice will only be an empty building until you pack it full of the essential equipment. You’re going to need to set up electronic health records and medical billing. 

Even though this isn’t a requirement, most people like to invest in a Doctors Answering Service. This way, they can still take calls when they’re out of the office. You’ll need to look into an internet provider. 

Having practice management software is super helpful too. Once you have all of the administrative stuff out of the way, it’s time for you to pick up your medical tables, waiting room furniture, and other essentials. 

Your Guide to Starting a Medical Practice 

Are you on your way to becoming a doctor? While you can go to work for another practitioner, there’s nothing better than opening up your own office. You’ll get to be your own boss and practice medicine the way that you want to. 

We will say, the trade-off for being able to set your own hours is a lot of work. Opening up any business can be stressful let alone starting a medical practice. As long as you follow the steps we provided, though, you should do fine. 

It will be hard for you to gather patients if nobody knows about your practice. Check out the marketing section of our blog for tips on how to get your name out there.