8 keys to succeeding as a physician in private practice

Making your living as a physician in private practice—that is, a practice wholly-owned by doctors rather than by a hospital, health system or other entity—can be rewarding and challenging. And there’s one thing such a practice setting assuredly is not: dull.

At last count by the AMA’s Physician Practice Benchmark Surveys in 2022 (PDF), 46.7% of physicians were working in practices wholly-owned by physicians, but that figure had fallen from 60.1% in 2012. Nevertheless, private practice remains a vibrant choice for many physicians.

The AMA supports physicians in pursuing the practice arrangement that best suits them individually as they deliver high-quality care to their patients. The AMA offers in-depth resources to consider all practice options.

Meanwhile, the AMA STEPS Forward^® Private Practice Playbook will help you get the resources you need to start and sustain your private practice, including an appendix with a collection of templated forms for physician practices addressing patient, employee and administrative needs.

For years, the AMA’s news writers have been aggregating sharp advice on succeeding in private practice that comes from those who know best—your physician peers who have done it. Drawing from our library of news articles on private practice, here are eight keys to succeeding as a private practice physician.

1. Take advantage of autonomy to make changes for the better

   1. Private practice, and the professional autonomy it brings, has been the career-long choice for oncologist-hematologist Barbara L. McAneny, MD, a former AMA president. When she and her partners at the two locations of the New Mexico Cancer Center want to provide new services to patients, they own the process.
   2. “We didn't have to go through 27 hospital committees and ask permission from a bunch of vice presidents for various things,” she said. “We just sat in a room. The group said, ‘Figure out how to do it. Let’s do it.’ And we did it. It is incredibly rewarding.”

2. Know which mistakes to avoid when you’re starting out 

   1. Anticipating pitfalls is a fundamental part of the clinical side of medicine and a physician just starting should apply that same thinking to establishing a private practice. Find out what it’s like from a doctor who has done it.

3. Discover the keys to marketing—and branding—your practice

   1. Why did you become a physician? What inspires you every day? What do you do best? They sound like questions that might be asked of an AMA member featured in an exclusive Q&A. But the answers to these and other questions about you, your physician partners, and the other professionals who help you deliver high-quality care can be the start of a journey that helps you boost the marketing of your physician private practice to another level.

4. Find out how to grow your patient panel 

   1. Physicians building private practices have more to think about than starting an office and providing care. Doctors each have an individual brand that will help determine their success. Learn some basics about how to define, support and promote your brand.
   2. Choices a physician makes—about specialty, likely patient population, location, practice policies, office amenities, communication skills, commitment to patient satisfaction and education, and so on—are fundamental factors in establishing that brand. Small changes to practice operations, such as selecting the right scheduling method and improving patient wait times, can go a long way with patient satisfaction.

5. Ramp up revenue-cycle management in your private practice

   1. Sea Chen, MD, PhD, remembers when his practice’s business office failed to notify others in the clinic about some denied claims and the reasons behind them.
   2. “Because of this, we had a bunch of digging to do before we found our problem,” said Dr. Chen, the AMA’s physician director for practice sustainability. The practice could have avoided this scenario if it had a better system for monitoring payer decisions of submitted claims. Physician private practices can prevent such miscues by following some critical steps of revenue-cycle management.

6. Create an elevator pitch to boost physician, staff recruiting

   1. Flourishing with your physician private practice doesn’t happen by accident. Practices that need to increase their medical and professional staffs need a strategy to identify what kind of people they need and where to find them.
   2. Prospective physician colleagues and others need to be recruited through demonstration of an organizational culture and environment that meets their future career needs. Learn more about creative ways to connect with or locate potential interviewees, understanding what physician recruits are looking for in a practice, and how to counter recruitment competition.

7. When every minute counts, heed these often overlooked efficiency lessons 

   1. In many medical settings, proven workflow improvements could increase efficiency and quality of care, while creating a better workday for everyone at the practice—if only someone would get the ball rolling.
   2. Guidance on how to put these efficiency lessons into action can be found on the AMA STEPS Forward topic pages on time-saving strategies and how to start and sustain a private practice.

8. Your private practice is only as strong as the advice you get 

   1. A medical degree gives a physician the right to envision owning a private medical practice. Putting the paperwork together to actually open and operate one typically takes the help of other professionals.
   2. Key advisers that physicians can expect to rely on at the start and perhaps throughout medical practice are an attorney and accountant. Learn more about how their services are central to the business structure that a private practice operates within.

To learn more, check out the “AMA Thriving in Private Practice” podcast. The 10-episode series explores the unique needs of physicians in private practice settings through the eyes of experience, drawing out the expertise of physician leaders.

You can subscribe to “AMA Thriving in Private Practice” on Apple Podcasts or anywhere podcasts are available.

If you are just getting started with your physician private practice, follow these seven steps.

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.

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