The changing healthcare reforms have not only brought major upheaval in the medical financial area but also has caused some changes in the way physicians work too. Long clinic hours, trying to pay off education loans, home mortgages, car loans, vacation loans, tend to make most physicians a bit uptight and pushy, and often brusque when it comes to interacting with patients. This vicious cycle that most physicians get drawn into can be broken and make the practice of healing enjoyable and soul-satisfying.
Here are a few tips that can help you, the physician, to once again get back into the very reason you got into the medical world- patient care:
Be less of a Spendthrift
Yes, that lavish life is enviable, but what use would it be down the line, when you are deep in debt? So try and save a certain percentage of your present income and squirrel it away, for that comfortable retirement.
Live the Intern life
Right from medical school into a huge salary could see you plush with a lot of dollars. Well, take a back seat, work out your debts- education loans, mortgage payments, put aside that money, check what’s left, save a percentage of that remainder and then use the rest to spend. So continue living like a resident/intern till you have a comfortable balance in your bank account.
Insure yourself
As a physician, the first thing you need to do is insure yourself- health & disability insurance should be your priority.
Retirement Plans
Automatic deductions from your salary within a few days that goes towards retirement plans or a savings account, aside from your checking account, will help you have a nice tidy sum when required in an emergency.
Running your own Practice?
Well, there are certain risks & benefits when running your own practice:
Be cautious with Patient’s Insurance:
Especially with the ACA rule that permits patient’s insurance to be claimed within the first 30 days of the grace period but not the last 60 days, especially if the patient’s insurance is terminated. You may end up losing a lot more than necessary.
Outsource:
Get experts to deal with the Medical Billing and Medical coding sections given the present ICD-10 transition problems, outsource your Revenue management services so that you can concentrate on your patients, while the experts concentrate on handling the administrative tasks, thus working towards your favor by providing you time to bring in new patients, given that the value for performance-based payments is now the new mode of earning higher reimbursements. However, choose your vendor well and one who suits your specialty.
Modes of Payments:
Explore the new modes of payments like the concierge mode, but choose wisely, after taking into consideration the geographical and cultural features of your practice area. Sharing of savings is also another mode of payment that can help lessen the load on you and yet bring in reimbursement if you specialize in any particular medical area.
This is just the tip of the iceberg that can help you through the maze of your financial chaos. Remember, it’s never too late to sort your finances and make a change in the way you do things. But change is necessary if you think you are in a major financial mess. Get in touch with us!
