Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Starting solo practice/need advice!

AC vs practice fusion/kareo?

Best billing/PM software for low overhead/spouse practice manager doing the billing?

Office Xray lease vs buy? expected annual revenue?

How long to build practice?

What kind of practice?

You are at the AC user board, so obviously we will recommend AC. Practice fusion, if you pay to remove ads would cost more in 2 years.

Can't comment on billing. Use MTBC which was an AC billing company but not now, do not recommend, but they have improved.

Building a practice is location depending and depends on competition and needs of the community. Also depends on demographics of area relating to both disease and insurance types.

Need more info.

If you want low overhead, I'm not sure how you are going to start with radiology in your office.

This is where it helps to have a practice consultant who knows every aspect of the business side of medicine. I couldn't have done it without mine.

King,
Can you give us a little more info...how long out of residency, past practice experience, general location, rural/suburban, east/west, etc. While I havent used practice fusion and only w/ ac, i started 2 y ago with wife doing billing. Ac's weakness is it has no practice management, but it will in 6-12 months i believe. We've hung in there with a partially electronic/partially paper (day sheet on legal pad!) system and with a smart motivated biller (aka my wife), our AR rivals anyone out there. There are a lot of resources and opinions out there for individuals in your position and yes, you can be successful. But it is hard and far from guaranteed. Choosing your emr is only one piece ( a large piece) of your puzzle.

King we need a lot more infor about where your practice is and how you are going to start it. i started my own two years ago and I have to tell you still not busy. It takes patience. If you want to talk, email me off line or message me. Definitely willing to help out!

Ketan

This post appears to be a 'drive by shooting.' But more info and we have a wealth of experience on this board!

Welcome Dr King. I agree with the above posts....need more info. You are fortunate to have your wife on board. No one will go after the money owed like a mama grizzly!

Starting out fresh. I'd consider a micro practice with very low overhead. Many would recommend a cash payment system. You have to consider quality of life. If you don't no one else will.

Tom

I appreciate the replies. Sorry for any delay in getting you for more info...been busy.

As far as more info:

I am 8 years out of FP residency from a solid program. Have been working ED, relatively high-volume (38,000/yr) fast paced. I plan on continuing to work in the ED while I get things going.
However, I am concerned that if the start-up is too slow I will stuck in the in-between zone...where I may be forced to keep working ED to sustain the practice, which is not what I want. The ED lifestyle is getting old, and I feel like I need a change, would like my own practice (which is why I went into medicine). I am very independent, I am the one who handles all the business aspects for our group, very good at analyzing situations and streamling operations. Really want to have my own show.

I have been approached by a couple of guys with an urgent care and possibly looking for a partner..It may be a good option, but not my own practice. They are using the EMR from practice velocity

Initially, I thought a micropractice style start-up may be good, but I will need to be in a medical office building with ancillary services. Or I could be in a better location with easy access for patients and would need to have my own xray.

It looks like the reimbursements in the region is ok, based on what I can tell (info from IPA shows contracts 125-150% of Medicare. Which seems OK.

My thought is if I am tucked away in a small office in a medical building, I will have to spend alot more on marketing, and I feel that it will take longer to grow the practice. But, if I am more visable with easy access my practice will likely grow quicker, but have to tack-on 50-80K for Rad.

I will not be only Sports med. We do have great sports med in town. It will be a small part of an open access primary care practice.

I do feel that with a good EMR/PM package I can achive efficiencies that make a solo practice seem more possible.

Ideas?

Also, anyone have a patient portal/scheduling program that works well with AC?

There are several on the board. You can search for them, although the search feature could use a little work.

I can't speak for this, but everyone knows I speak for what I know what what I know nothing about.

But, I believe UpDox is what most people use and is very well associated to AC. Just go to their website.