Welcome to Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting & Management

#buffalony

Dr. Praba Jeyalingam – Gynecologic Surgeon

by

We all have a story. What’s yours? In this Tune in Tuesday episode, Dr. Praba Jeyalingam shares about her unique journey that started in family medicine, that has ultimately landed in gynecologic surgery. A fellowship trained surgeon in urogynecology, Dr. Jeyalingam is a rockstar in her specialty, with skills that include the ability to operate robotically.

Until recently, Dr. Jeyalingam has been working as an OBGYN in a private practice located in Buffalo, New York. Although very skilled in obstetrics, her true love is in the operating room. Having built a large patient following, we know her patients will be disappointed in no longer being able to see her, however she provides a recommendation for patients to transfer to former colleague, Dr. Marsi Cloud, who has recently joined local private practice, Buffalo OBGYN.

Don’t miss this great interview, as Missy Marsocci, owner of Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting asks Dr. Jeyalingam the following questions:

1.) Tell us about your journey to get where you are now, and where you’re headed next.

2.) Why OBGYN?

3.) Going from private practice to a hospital employee is a big change. Do you think it is helpful to have an attorney review your employment agreement?

4.) What is something you’d give as advice to a med student or resident?

5.) Who was Praba Jeyalingam in high school?

6.) Favorite place to eat in Buffalo?

What an honor it is to know and work with Dr. Jeyalingam. We are excited to witness all that is in store for her in this next chapter of her story.

Be sure to click the link below to watch the interview! Want to learn more about Dr. Praba Jeyalingam? Click here to visit her website!

Dr. Marsi Cloud Interview – Well-Loved OBGYN!

by

Here at Cornerstone, we are truly blessed to work with some of the best and brightest physicians in the country. Dr. Marsi Cloud is without a doubt one of those individuals. Our journey together began at Empire OB/GYN, where she previously spent 18 years of career.

After 18 years, Dr. Cloud realized it was time for a change, and is preparing for the next chapter of her professional journey. In this Tune in Tuesday episode, we connect with Dr. Cloud to learn more about who she is personally, as well as professionally. Also, we have the exciting opportunity of providing the Big Reveal of where she is headed to next to practice. Don’t miss this great interview, as Missy Marsocci, owner of Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting asks Dr. Cloud the following questions:

1.) Where did you grow up?

2.) What made you want to become a doctor?

3.) Did you always want to do OBGYN?

4.) Why the private practice route

5.) Who was Marsi Cloud in high school?

5.) Favorite restaurant in Buffalo?

6.) And…the BIG Revealing…what practice are you headed to next? How do patients transfer there?

What an honor it is to know and work with Dr. Cloud. We are excited to witness all that is in store for her in the next phase of her journey.

Interested to follow Dr. Cloud to her next practice? She starts September 1st! Click here to download the transfer paperwork: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JlBkjICa6vX3p0lC2luaHxh9I8073q30/view?usp=sharing or visit their website and learn more by clicking here!

Clinical Trials Beyond the Hospital Walls!

by

If you live in Western New York, you have likely heard of Circuit Clinical and/or read one of the multiple stories about their growth in local news stories. Founded in 2015 by Dr. Irfan Khan, the catalyst to their success appeared to come in 2019, upon being selected as a winner of the annual 43North startup competition. As a result, they were awarded an investment of $500,000 and free rent for a year in the magnificent Seneca One office building. Since that time, Circuit Clinical has continued to blossom. However, many are still unsure as to who they are and what they do.

In this Tune in Tuesday episode, we traveled to downtown Buffalo, to learn firsthand from the founder and CEO, Dr. Irfan Khan who/what Circuit Clinical is. A cardiologist by training, listen in as he explains the Circuit Clinical business model, and how they are pioneering the way to bring clinical research trials beyond the hospital walls and to the office level, where the vast majority of patients exist. In addition to asking Dr. Khan to describe who/what Circuit Clinical is, we also asked him the following questions:

  • What prompted the idea for Circuit Clinical? Is this something you have been thinking of for a while, or did it just come to you in more recent years?
  • Why should a practice partner with Circuit Clinical? What are the pros and cons to doing so?
  • Who was Irfan Khan in high school? Were you always a “go-getter”?
  • Favorite place to eat in Buffalo?

Take the time to listen in and learn more about this exciting journey Dr Khan and his team are on. What began in Buffalo, New York is now expanding into the Northeast Region and beyond, serving patients in a way that did not exist prior. Thank you, Dr Khan for all you are doing to advance healthcare! Interested to learn more about Circuit Clinical? Click here to visit their website!

Are Non-Compete Agreements Enforceable?

by

If you have ever taken a position with a healthcare facility, regardless of whether it is a hospital or medical practice, then you know that non-compete agreements are often a key part of the offer letter. What can you do with your career if you sign one? Is it worth it to sign one in order to get that job? In this interview with top healthcare attorney Brigid Maloney, we discuss non-compete agreements and how enforceable they really are.

Brigid Maloney is a Partner and the Co-Leader of the Health Law Practice at Lippes, Mathias, Wexler, Friedman Law Firm in Buffalo as well as Albany New York. With over 20 years in healthcare law, Brigid has done it all…from representing digital health companies, to hospitals, medical practices, and everything in between. Therefore, who better for us to meet and discuss the various aspects surrounding employment law in healthcare. Although non-compete agreements were a main focus of this interview, Brigid provided us with so much more. Below are the questions posed to Brigid from Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting’s President, Missy Marsocci. Be sure to watch the video, this is full of valuable information!

  • Is it necessary to involve an attorney for review of an employment agreement?
  • What is a non-compete agreement? Should I sign it?
  • Once employed, are non-compete agreements enforceable?
  • One additional question you’ll have to watch to discover.

Interested to learn more about Brigid and/or contact here? Follow this link to read her bio and gain her contact information. https://www.lippes.com/team/brigid-m-maloney-57

Have a healthcare consulting need you’d like to discuss with Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting? Click her to schedule a consult! https://cornerstonehealthcareconsulting.com/contact/

Find Out What’s Unique About This Doctor

by

I recently had the great pleasure and honor to sit down with Dr. Joe Serghany, the owner/founder of WNY MRI. Afterward, as I went back through the video, I could not help but feel inspired. Dr. Serghany has a story analogous to the American Dream! Having grown up in Lebanon and completing medical school there, a country in crisis due to war, forced him to come to the United States, where he completed his Residency training through the University of Buffalo. Upon graduating, he had a brief stint as an employed radiologist, however realized his true calling was that of a business owner.

With fellow Buffalo radiologists, Dr. Serghany formed WNY MRI at their first location on Genesee Street, where the first MRI in Buffalo was housed, after being purchased by a consortium of local hospitals! Since then, they have grown to nine locations, and a full suite of advanced radiologic imaging services. Equally impressive, is that Dr. Serghany has been much of the mastermind behind the growth and success of this business. Having worked with many physicians over the years, a physician with good business acumen is a rare find. This is not a statement to be disparaging to physicians, but rather what is often observed. Dr. Serghany is the exception. He has been a part of the growth in many capacities, from real estate development to business development and more. And, lest we forget, he continues to read images on a full-time basis.

In this video, I asked Dr. Serghany the following questions: 1.) You’re originally from Lebanon, where you completed medical school. What brought you to the United States? 2.) What made you choose radiology? 3.) What lead to the decision to open your own group? 4.) If you were in Residency today, would you follow the same path, or would you take the route to be employed instead? 5.) When owning your own practice, have you discovered it is better to own or lease your space? 6.) Advice to current medical students and residents?

It is well worth the ten minutes of your time to listen to his responses. Dr. Serghany is impressive, inspiring, and humble. I hope you value this experience as much as I did!

Planning for Retirement As a New Doctor

by

In this interview, Melissa (Missy) Marsocci of Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting, interviewed Alex Heringer and Jim Ginnane of Planned Futures Financial, located in Buffalo, New York. There were three main questions Missy posed to Jim and Alex. They were as follows:

  1. How important is disability insurance for a physician? What if I am just graduating Residency, is this something I need right now?
  2. I am just graduating Residency; I am in my late 20’s/early 30’s with lots of debt. Is it possible for me to plan for retirement with all my debt, and just finally starting to make money?
  3. Any tips on how to manage all that debt?

Clearly, the theme surrounded the topic of debt. With the need to complete an undergraduate program, and then attend medical school, becoming a physician will likely begin with a six-digit investment. Therefore, how is it possible to take on additional expenses, that may seem irrelevant to a young physician graduating Residency, who often is in their late 20’s/early 30’s? Thus, the relevance of the question, “How important is disability insurance for a physician?” Especially one in the above referenced age bracket. But, as Alex and Jim would likely express back to us…how can you afford not to? Jim began by saying, “…if they analyze it carefully they’ll

usually come to the conclusion that their ability to work and earn a paycheck is the biggest asset they’ll ever own”. If that didn’t capture your attention, he further went on to drive this message home by saying, “All the automobiles and homes and schooling and everything else that they’re ever going to purchase in their life is all predicated on their ability to earn a paycheck. So, I can’t think of anything that’s more important for somebody to insure. And the doctors and dentists and the professionals that we specialize in working with are particularly vulnerable, because they have the ability to command a very high income but at the same time they have the possibility of getting disabled no differently than anybody else, and so the drop of income, the difference in what their income would be if they if they got disabled and all they had was social security for instance, for disability insurance, so they didn’t have any personally owned disability insurance, that drop in income is dramatic for a person that’s making you know $80,000 a year, but the social security will provide a bigger percentage of their pay if they get disabled, but it doesn’t work that way for high income people”. Jim’s response answered the question of whether disability insurance is important. But is it affordable? The good news is, similar to life insurance, the younger and healthier you are, the less expensive it is. Alex said they actually have starter packages for disability insurance and have many clients who purchased the insurance before Residency, in their fourth year of medical school. He further went on to explain some of the specifics around pricing, as well as the discounts they have through their existing relationships with medical schools throughout the country. So, is disability insurance important? Yes. And is it affordable? Yes.

With all the discussion surrounding affordability and debt, it seemed only appropriate to then talk about how to manage that debt, and question if it is possible to plan for retirement, when just coming out of Residency. Although most residents would fall in the category of being in their late 20’s/early 30’s, and that is still quite young, they are beyond the age of when most financial advisors would recommend starting to plan for retirement. However, with all this debt to manage and just finally making money, how is that possible? It is, through what Jim calls the 85-15 rule. He described it as this, “If a person can discipline themselves to live on 85% of their gross income, therefore free up 15% of the gross income to put away for the future, but then it reduces the importance of where the money is invested, and if you time it with the time where someone has a dramatic increase in their income, it’s very easy to do actually because these young doctors are used to earning next to nothing, and then all of a sudden they get a decent income. And so, if they can start with that thought in mind that I’m going to live on 85% and put 15% away for my future, then it’s still a huge net pay increase from what they were used to.

And so, it makes it as painless as it can be and at the same time the indebtedness can be paid off over a period of time and that can be done concurrently with planning for their retirement”. He went on to further explain the important of starting early, and the cost if you do not.

In closing, an important question was posed to Jim and Alex; “Where is your favorite place to eat in Buffalo”? To gain the answer, as well as so many additional details to what was discussed, you will have to click to watch this great interview!

Interested to learn more about Planned Futures Financial Group? Click here to visit their website!