Best Practice Solution
Wyoming physician Kurt Hunter shared his secrets for success in an April article for Medical Economics. Winning entry in the magazine’s 2007 Doctors’ Writing Contest, Best Practice Solution category, “How I built a successful medical practice in under seven years” describes strategies nurse practitioners might adopt for their own practices:
- Take advantage of an educational loan forgiveness program. Hunter found that the state of Wyoming would pay a large portion of his medical school debt if he agreed to work in the state. Different states offer different programs for different professionals.
- Supplement income with a part-time position. Hunter made an extra $1,000 per week working in a hospital clinic.
- Use electronic health records from the beginning. A system that schedules, charts and bills saves time and headaches and, therefore, money.
- Examine your payer and patient mix. Hunter decided not to take on new Medicare patients.
- Hire other providers. Hunter first added two physician assistants to his practice — the most allowed by law at the time. He later campaigned to change the limit to four, and lawmakers compromised on three. Of course, most states have no legal limits on the number of NPs a practice may employ.
- Provide more hours of service. Hunter offered pay incentives to employees to work Saturdays.
- Add lucrative services. Hunter added high-return laboratory and aesthetics services.
- Buy the building. Hunter’s purchase allowed him to stop paying rent and to charge other leaseholders instead.