Physician practices of all kinds were hard hit by the financial havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 public health emergency, and the sustainability of medical groups continues to be threatened by the broken Medicare physician payment system.
Physicians in independent practice—often called private practice—have sadly been no exception to this trend.
Most U.S. physicians providing patient care are now working outside doctor-owned medical practices (PDF), according to data the AMA collected from thousands of physicians in the 2022 Physician Practice Benchmark Survey.
In 2020, the AMA House of Delegates voted to create a new section—the AMA Private Practice Physicians Section (AMA-PPPS). The section seeks to preserve the freedom, independence and integrity of private practice so that physicians who choose to practice in that setting can provide compassionate personal medical care for their patients.
It takes astute clinical judgment as well as a commitment to collaboration and solving challenging problems to succeed in independent settings that are often fluid, and the AMA offers the resources and support physicians need to both start and sustain success in private practice.
These resources include the:
- AMA Private Practice Simple Solutions series of free, open-access, rapid-learning cycles designed help practices implement actionable changes that can immediately increase their efficiency.
- AMA Private Practice Playbook, a robust collection of best practices and strategies for doctors aspiring to open or enter a private practice.
Check out these articles detailing life at seven outstanding physician private practices. The AMA members who lead them took the time to share how this mode of practice has served them—and their patients—so well.
Spinal surgeon thrives with effective online presence
- Marketing and branding your physician private practice online demands much more than a fancy website, according to Daniel E. Choi, MD, a spinal surgeon and founder of Spine Medicine and Surgery of Long Island. Promoting your practice needs to begin with building a comprehensive online home. And a good online home is built on a strong online identity.
How this private rural family practice finds success with ACO
- Family physician Karen L. Smith, MD, confesses that she was perhaps a bit naive when she first opened her private practice decades ago in rural Raeford, North Carolina.
- Hanging your shingle as a physician “means that you’re the one that's responsible for doing your contract negotiations (PDF), reaching out to those patient populations who you really wanted to take care of and negotiating those payments that you felt necessary—not only to take care of the patient but also to make sure that they were getting the good quality [of care] and that that cost didn't exceed what patients could actually pay.”
- Navigating payer contracts has only grown more challenging over time. Dr. Smith recently has found success by joining an accountable care organization (ACO).
This private practice physician keeps telemedicine close to home
- Having been associated with a large California primary care group in the 1990s, Roxanne Tyroch, MD, was on the brink of securing a partnership before life led her in a different direction.
- “After being in this for nine years and having confronted many obstacles to survival, I remain happy in my private practice,” Dr. Tyroch told the AMA in an interview in which she discussed the practice landscape and how telemedicine helps her reach more patients in the El Paso area.
The right merger can empower private practice physicians
- As mergers and acquisitions continue to dominate the U.S. health care landscape, physician private practices are now the minority. That is especially the case in oncology care, where large health systems and academic medical centers hold sway.
- Formed in February 2024, ONCare Alliance is a merger bringing together the National Cancer Care Alliance and Quality Cancer Care Alliance. The entity aims to address private practices’ needs and work jointly on large-scale initiative while ensuring patients have choices for cancer care. The alliance is composed of 32 practices with more than 800 physicians and other health professionals serving 3.1 million patients.
- ONCare Alliance is a member of the AMA Health System Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
Smart support helps pediatrics group face industry headwinds
- “The second I started working with children during my last rotation in year three of medical school in 1993, I knew I wanted to be an independent pediatrician,” says an AMA column by Elizabeth Flynn, MD, who practices in Manassas, Virginia. “Every day presents me with opportunities to do what I love most: care for patients and reassure parents they are, in fact, doing a great job. Unfortunately, the realities of health care often interfere with the joy of medicine. Health care, while making progress in many areas, has largely left both pediatrics and independent practices behind.”
- In the column, Dr. Flynn described her practice’s partnership with Privia Pediatrics, a pediatrician-focused organization that equipped them with the tools to help maintain their autonomy. Privia Pediatrics is also a member of the AMA Health System Program.
How private practice helped this doctor find work-life balance
- A career in private practice let Christine Sinsky, MD, build family freedom and a work-life balance while keeping the door open to leadership opportunities. Dr. Sinsky said her private practice setting was a blessing in disguise and set her on a path to helping doctors transform their daily work.
Private practice setting freed family doctor to improve care
- The promise of more stable income, fewer administrative hassles or a bigger support network are a few of the perceived advantages of being employed by a large hospital or health system. But employment can also come with some disadvantages—both personal and professional.
- Jim Milford, MD, has worked both sides of the fence, developing a network of medical clinics for a large regional medical center in Wisconsin, serving as a medical director for a hospice company and later establishing his own private physician practice. The practice is what Dr. Milford always wanted in a medical setting—one that is nimble, efficient and humane.
Among the other outstanding resources from the AMA is guidance that helps physicians:
- Get started in private practice.
- Grow and sustain your private practice.
- Navigate private practice business challenges.
In addition, explore these four keys to marketing—and branding—your physician private practice.
AMA research illustrates that there is a wide variety of practice types, sizes and ownership arrangements in which physicians work. Due to this diversity, no single practice type, size or ownership structure can or should be considered the typical physician practice.
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