Guest guest Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 I have been in part-time practice for about 7 months now. I work 2 full days and 1 half day per week. For the most part, my patients have been happy waiting to see me. I work 1/2 day Monday which helps cover the urgent rush after the weekend. Then I work full days Tues/Thurs. Patients have gotten used to the days that I am available. It helps that I have a receptionist who works every day (I share the office with another part-time physician) so there is always someone available to take calls. I am also fortunate to live within 5 minutes of my office so if I do have a patient who absolutely can't wait another day, I will stop by to see them if I can. I would suggest that you create a good relationship with the local urgent care clinics. It doesn't necessarily have to be a competitive relationship. Our urgent care clinic will refer patients to me for their routine care while I refer to them when I am unable to see one of my urgent patients. It has actually worked out well. I have only built my practice to about 200 patients so it will be interesting to see how things work out when I am much busier. Good luck to you. Part-time practice > > > Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences on this forum; I've > found them informative and inspirational. > > My question is directed to those in part-time practices. How do you > manage the " I can see you today " and " I won't force you to see > someone else " parts of the ideal practice? I am planning to see > patients 2-3 days/week. Do you find that patients are satisfied > with " I can see you in 1-2 days " instead? I am in a suburban > neighborhood with several large group practices and urgent care > centers as competition. > > Thanks, > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 We have several solo FP's in my area so I have had no trouble getting coverage for vacation. We cover for eachother. I would encourage you to contact other solo physicians to see if you can make similar arrangements. part-time practice > > I'm very interested to hear how part-time practices work in this model. > Being a parent of 2 school-age girls, I really don't want to get myself into > a situation of no time with them. > > I also would like to hear how others cover their practices for vacation & > illness, etc. > > Thanks, > Sharon > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 I practice part -time meaning 20 hours per week. I have 3 school age children and basically try and work when they are in school I get them on the bus and then go into work and see patients.I am usually home by the time they get off the bus at 3:30 pm. One thing that I love about this model of practice is the flexibility. I essentally work around my families schedule. I have been able to go on their field trips, help out at their school. I have control of the schedule and can usually work it out. I have found that with your own practice and being completely solo, it helps to be available most days of the week ( not just work 2 or 3- days out of the week). If I work a few hours everyday ( some days the whole day, some days only half day) then I am able to meet the needs of most patients if they need to be seen urgently the same day. My patient panel is about 500 patients right now and this is still doable. I have been doing this model of solo practice for 1.5 years. I think if you only work a few days a week and have a good size patient panel, you could probably stll do it if you had a secretary that answers your phone while you are not there. Hope this is helpful. Lee Rochester, NY part-time practice > > I'm very interested to hear how part-time practices work in this model. > Being a parent of 2 school-age girls, I really don't want to get myself > into > a situation of no time with them. > > I also would like to hear how others cover their practices for vacation & > illness, etc. > > Thanks, > Sharon > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Hi Sharon, I am not part-time, but I have recently taken a CME break and was out of town for a week. Before leaving, I contacted a solo doc (also just starting out) and asked if he'd mind my giving out his number or having my patients see him if they couldn't wait. He had no problem with this. Next, after forwarding my office phone to my cell phone, I changed my cell phone's answering message to explain that I was " away at a conference...if this is an emergency, dial 911....if it can't wait, Dr. X has agreed to see my patients for me...please call him @ 555-1234...otherwise, I'll be checking my messages regularly...and, no, I do not have the flu shot " I kept my phone on vibrate and checked my messages every other hour or so...This worked out great! Hope that helps. - , Sharon said: > > I'm very interested to hear how part-time practices work in this model. > Being a parent of 2 school-age girls, I really don't want to get myself > into a situation of no time with them. > > I also would like to hear how others cover their practices for vacation > & illness, etc. > > Thanks, > Sharon > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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