Geriatric Medicine Can Be ProfitableGeriatric Medicine can be very profitable. The problem is most physicians don't know how to do it. They know the medicine, but not the business. That’s a shame. Low Overhead The typical medical practice suffers with overhead of approximately 50-60%. That’s a lot of work for income you don't get to take home. A Geriatric or Long-Term Care practice can operate at 25% or less. Imagine cutting your overhead in half. My practice overhead is 24%, (and I could get it even lower).
Profitability Boost by Overhead Reduction
If you are in a typical outpatient practice I don’t have to tell you how many patients you have to run through in a day just to keep your office open. You know the pressure of falling behind and trying to push patients through faster and faster. In Long-Term Care Medicine the day is not organized like an outpatient practice. You are never behind and your volume is manageable because your overhead is lower. Payments from Medicare for the core services in Geriatric Medicine continue to rise. The fee schedule for next year has gone up again and is very appropriate, in my humble opinion. The people who are complaining are the ones who don’t know how to control costs and who aren't efficient in the day to day practice of their profession.
Profitable with Medicare? Yes, It's True.
Geriatric patients in an out-patient practice aren't easy to see in an efficient manner. But, in a Geriatric/Long-Term Care setting these patients can be seen efficiently, effectively and easily. In my practice I usually see between 4-6 patients in an hour. I can speed up or slow down depending on my patient’s needs and mine. I never feel rushed and I'm never behind schedule. |