Re: Office opens Monday!

[Guest guest]

Congratulations, Tim! Wishing you much success in your endeavor! Seto Hi Folks -- It's time for me to do as some others have done and pass along some happy news... my new office officially opens in two days, Monday March6! First, a giant "Thank You" to everyone for sharing their experiences and opinions on this list. Over these three years or so I've learned a lot from all of you. And until recently I didn't realize it, but it's true, the list does feel like a bit like family. Second, a warning... you should get another email (likely on Sunday or so) from me with a link to a Kodak site to view some photos. You do not have to register (unless you want to order photos...?) and it's not junk email. The photos will be of my office and will range from the barebones space I started with last month to whatever it looks like tomorrow after putting in lots of hours this weekend. About the office... about 50 patients have already had their medical records copied and sent to me.  I have about 25 patients already registered on RelayHealth.  I have four patients booked for Monday... for five appts (one is a Workers Comp follow up who is also diabetic so he's got two appts to bill each with different insurance).  Interestingly, 3 of the 4 patients are Deaf... but that is one of my clinical interest areas as I know sign language and have served large numbers of Deaf patients for many years. I have 10 appts booked on AppointmentQuest for the next two weeks... five were set up by the patient him/herself and the others by me with patient on the phone.  I think that ratio is a good sign, though I admit the earliest registered patients may be more tech-savvy so it may be a statistical glitch. My technology stuff has held up pretty well through my first week of having all the pieces together... a "loaded" Toshiba Tecra convertible laptop-tablet with a port at the office for easy connection to everything there... HP color laser printer (on sale for $299)... Panasonic scanner (expensive, but it's worked GREAT so far -- dealer is a local small businessman who is has already referred his son to me and has been a good link to the local community, so the extra expense of the machine has already paid off as opposed to buying online) ... EMR= AC... OneBox.com for voice mails, faxes and some emails (has worked great so far and VM is fast with my DSL line and computer) ... single tel line with all calls/faxes sent to OneBox.com (btw, tel company rep on the phone I've worked with to set up line and DSL, after regular calls back and forth, is becoming my patient too!)... Treo 700W (new and I'm just getting started with it, but it's been good so far)... about to tie in voice recognition with local highly-recommended "training" company. I've tried to think about and come to good decisions along the way for where to spend money and thusfar I'm satisfied the few times I've put out larger sums.  Each time I can see a reason and have already seen some benefit with referrals and good advise about other businesses/resourses. I didn't realize it, but this world of small business does run on handshakes and relationships.  A good financial deal at one point may not benefit you later. But a good relationship with a colleague can keep growing with time.  Financial choices are not just about the current dollars but are "investments" for the future.  At this point however, I'm mostly all set so there won't be many more outlays of money. Anyway, I've not run the numbers but I'd estimate my start up costs are about  $25,000 and I've been able to arrange for some of that to delay payment (no interest) which will help my early cash flow but require me to keep track and be sure I have cash available when they come due.  I've got a $50,000 small business loan with a low interest rate and my minimum payment is 1% a month.  I only pay what I take out of it too... thus far $20,000.  My technology overhead (www, online messaging, online scheduling, cell phone, etc) is about $450/month and I doubt I'll go over the limits for use with the way I set the contracts. I've got no staff... one of my mottos is, "it's just me, the patients, our computers and our phones!" Now I've got to go and finish painting trim (have put it off all week), put up some shelving, paint a few last pieces of funiture, move my last two pieces of furniture and straighten up the office...! I'm sure many of you recall the feeling, but right now the office feels like a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces spread on the table.  At this point they are all faced right-side-up but only small bunches are all attached... I've got the border and some bunches of similar colors, but really it is still not put together!  ;-) Overall, this feels good! The mild anxiety is mixed with joy. Thanks to you all for helping me get here. I'll be sending the pictures and will share with the group any thoughts or observations about office or practice as time goes on. 7:40... time to get to the office as I hit the homestretch!!! Tim