Imagine if you could create a dream team of doctors from experts in different specialty areas and have them all work in one place. You could quickly share knowledge with one another and provide improved patient care. Well, this is not a dream; it’s what is called a multispecialty group practice.
While the incentive of having many great minds come together in one place is incredible, it’s not the only perk of a group practice. In fact, these environments support the physicians who work in them economically and logistically, making practice management seamless.
Below, we’ll explain what medical practices are, how different types of group practices function and how you and your colleagues can benefit from joining forces.
What is a medical practice?
Medical practice is a type of healthcare environment where a physician or group of physicians offer medical care.
We’ll focus on the benefits of multispecialty group practice, but first, we’ll look at other types of practices, like those that focus on a specific specialty area or offer more generalized care.
What are the six types of medical practices?
Now that you have a general idea of what medical practices are, let’s break down six different categories within this umbrella term. Although there are other medical practice examples besides these, here are the common ones.
Solo practice
As the name suggests, physicians in these practices work privately, accompanied by their very helpful staff. These small practices can usually take on only a limited number of patients since there is only one doctor in the house. But, this means that physicians and their patients actually get a chance to bond. The downside? Doctors who work alone have to take on sole legal responsibility and shoulder more operative costs than they would have if they’d teamed up with other physicians.
Group practices
There are both single-specialty and multispecialty group practices, meaning that physicians and clinicians can either team up to provide services in the same area or support one another with specialized knowledge from their respective fields. Group practices may be able to share certain costs, risks and administrative tasks. Another advantage of working in these practices is that you get to have a work-life balance. With a couple of physicians working with you, you can take a day off and they can cover for you.
Employed physician practices
Employed physician practices are like group practices, just owned by an outside entity like a hospital or healthcare organization. Instead of being partners in a business, doctors are employed in this physician group practice model. A few major perks of working in this practice are a lot of the admin work is outsourced to the employer, your monthly income reaches your bank account on time and you have other physicians to cover for you.
Direct primary care
In this model, patients pay a membership fee (monthly, quarterly or annually) to receive certain basic medical services. As this kind of practice runs on memberships instead of insurance, primary care physicians don’t have to worry about managing co-pays and third-party billing, making the entire process increasingly transparent for both patients and physicians. However, the services covered by the memberships are limited and may not extend to more specialized patient care.
Independent Contractor
In this practice, physicians work together to provide patient care. While the practice is independent, the property and services are shared. Since there is a group of physicians working together, providing medical care is easy. However, when it comes to decision-making, it’s not as easy in a solo or group practice.
Locum tenens
Locum tenens is the Latin translation of “one who holds the place,” meaning filling in for another physician. This type of work is for doctors who don’t mind being on the move. In this model, physicians take on contract work in different types of healthcare settings and locations. If you’re just starting out and not sure what type of practice you’d like to work in, the locum tenens model could be a great way to “see the world” and decide which direction to take your career.
Benefits of a multispecialty group practice setting experience
Now that you’re an expert on all the types of practices, let’s circle back to the benefits of working in a multispecialty group practice. As we mentioned, there are far more reasons to work this way than having access to consults with other specialists in your building (although that is a pretty powerful reason in and of itself).
- Access to medical technology: Whereas smaller practices or private offices might not have funding for state-of-the-art technology, group practices are likely to have digital imaging machinery that helps doctors make more accurate diagnoses.
- A multidisciplinary offering for your patients: Since there are other specialists in your practice, you can offer patients a tailored care plan that addresses more than just one medical need. This high-quality patient care approach can make your practice stand out.
- More referrals: Your networking potential increases when you team up with other doctors. Not only will you get referrals, but you’ll also reap the benefits of the group’s marketing (and you’ll have to participate in it).
The future of multispecialty group practices
Wherever we find a bunch of pros, there are always some cons. No setup is perfect for everyone, and while multispecialty group practices definitely come with their perks, they also have some pitfalls.
Besides more personal and nuanced issues like colleagues simply not getting along, a negative of medical group practices is individual doctors may not earn as much as they could if they went out on their own. The reason? In a group practice, individual physicians may not make the rules about how much you get paid, but doctors who’ve been in the practice for a while set these numbers. They also devise the system that measures other physicians’ productivity (and determines their pay).
Some group practices may reward you for high patient numbers, while others will look at how many charges or collections you’ve made. In a private practice, however, you’re the boss. So, you have more say in setting your rates and, in turn, your salary.
What’s the one thing that all practices have in common? The healthcare providers who work in them need great scrubs that will keep them safe, comfortable, dry and looking great, and we fulfill all these requirements.