From the time of Normal Rockwell, up to and including the baby boom generation, it was a natural assumption that physicians opened medical practices. Back then, they were as manageable as the local mom-n-pop shop, but now, they are a dying breed with fewer and fewer physicians considering entrepreneurship.
*
Challenges of Physician Entrepreneurship
*
Today’s physician faces higher barriers of entry. Chief among them is the price tag necessary to open a simple small office. A 1500 square foot primary care office in Brooklyn recently cost $150,000 just to open its doors to the public. It did not include specialized equipment, fancy decorating, a marketing budget, or staffing costs. It also did not include the cost of the business consultant, accountant, and attorney. The doctor financed his practice with a credit card, a capital loan from a bank, and private savings.
*
A majority of today’s newer doctors opt for an employment arrangement that guarantees a paycheck and a lifestyle in exchange for some loss of autonomy. They choose to enter into contractual arrangements that may or may not lead to partnership arrangements, or they go to larger institutions and become part of the corporate machine. Some look to work with older doctors considering retirement in 5 or 10 years as their ticket to entrepreneurship. However, entrepreneurship is endangered by rising tuition, malpractice costs, over-regulation, and heavy handed over-sight requirements that physicians of yesteryear never had to contend with.
*
Recent Comments