I’m Dr. Hassan, a Board-Certified Physiatrist and Independent Practice Owner. I help physiatrists start and grow their profitable practices so they can achieve financial independence and live without limits.

Today, I want to talk about the most important message Covid-19 has taught physicians. That is, in terms of employed physicians, no one is safe.

On March 18th, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) called for elective procedures to be curtailed. Any procedure that was not deemed essential, meaning the patient would not be harmed by missing an in-person procedure, was put on pause. This, in turn, drastically dented a field that many once considered secure. Even orthopedic surgeons, as a result of Covid, have either been furloughed or actually terminated as a result of the loss of revenue from not being able to perform elective procedures.

This pandemic should be a wake-up call for all physicians to take back control and not settle for a false sense of security. According to the United States Department of Labor, “in just eight weeks, more than 36 million Americans filed for unemployment…and the spread of the virus is projected to impact millions more jobs worldwide.”

All physicians need to understand the business of medicine.

Physicians need to have a component where they have a 10-99 or some type of independent aspect of their practice so that if circumstances call for them to pivot, they can continue making money.

This pivot can come in the form of:

  • locums as a way to still travel and be able to provide medicine
  • leveraging tele-health (as Covid-19 has created a scenario where patients now feel more comfortable during visits via a telemedicine platform)
  • moonlighting to provide coverage to other physicians on a weekend, weekly, or monthly basis, so that they can go on leave or vacation

Independent practice is no longer a luxury or an option. It’s a necessity.

Covid-19 has been a wake-up call for all employee physicians–and physicians in general–putting us on alert and letting us know that we have to be independent and build out our practices and not rely on someone else to employ us. 

For more practice tips go to: http://www.sixtytosuccess.com

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I’m Dr. Hassan, a Board-Certified Physiatrist and Independent Practice Owner. I help physiatrists start and grow their profitable practices so they can achieve financial independence and live without limits. Follow me on social media @DrHassanRehab.