Hello all
I am 11 years out of GI fellowship. I first worked with a MSG, then left them due to too much call. Then joined a solo guy for 3 years. When it was time for "partnership", I thought the $200k he wanted was too much of a buy-in into the accounts receivable. I didn't have a non-compete clause with him, so I was able to stay in the area and went solo. That will be 3 years in April. In short: I'm failing, and I don't know why, or what to do to fix it.
I started the practice from scratch using a bank line of credit. I thought I would be home free in 6 months to a year. But the practice remains too slow. I'm still unable to even afford a full-time practice manager, let alone a PA or a second GI. I use Amazing Charts for the clinical part, but I don't have a PM software. For billing, I use a lady who does it out of her home for 6% of collections. She's the practice manager for a local primary care practice, and she helps me with some aspects of managing my office and my 3 employees. But I really do not have a clear picture of my practice finances at all- floating aimlessly, to put it mildly. Most months I have a hard time paying my personal and practice bills. I haven't been able to find a stable or reliable bookkeeper and CPA. I'm even more than a year late filing taxes. Certainly not where I thought I would be after 11 years of practice.
I have done the usual things for marketing: visiting PCPs, faxing my notes promptly, being responsive and accessible, giving away pens and mugs to the referral coordinators of primary care practices, etc. But the practice is at a plateau. Part of the reason might be that there are 7 other GIs in a 250,000 people catchment area, but I'm not sure.
To make things more complicated, I have had my share of adverse personal life events, which have left me "all over the place" mentally. I think that's part of the reason I have not been more organized with my record-keeping and finances. Also, I have not passed my Boards recert and will have to sit for it again.
Wanted to get y'all's thoughts on what I'm doing wrong, and what could be done to fix it. And whether it's time to look for an employed position somewhere else and drop this. Of course I can't even apply for jobs before passing the Boards. So I'm stuck where I am for a while.
Thanks
Khaled
