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New Physicians Choosing Private Practice Again

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As the workforce evolves and younger generations are entering into the mix, there has been a big push for independence and working for oneself. This is true in every industry, and especially so in the healthcare world. Many younger physicians and medical specialists are looking for options involving private practices, not wanting to be tied down or restricted by big hospitals and healthcare systems.

Melissa Marsocci, Founder of Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting and Management, specializes in helping practitioners make the jump into private practice and expects to see a lot more of them popping up in the next few years. This is in part due to patterns she sees that resemble what happened a few decades ago, and due to the business and healthcare management environment of today.

As Marsocci explains, this draw towards opening private practices stems in part from younger generations entering the workforce, and not being satisfied with the status quo. Many people now want to go into the entrepreneurial space, while still working one-on-one with patients.

Some physicians feel reluctant to get into a contract with a big healthcare system because they are limited in how they can practice, these systems often have patient quotas, specific treatment timeframes, and treatment limitations. In other cases, it is simply a practitioner wanting to focus on a more customer-centric model, and wanting the freedom of owning their own business.

Start-ups of any kind are easier now more than ever, without the requirement of a brick-and-mortar space there is no limit to how practitioners can connect with patients. Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting and Management has a turnkey solution that can get private practices up and running quickly, with everything they need to provide the best patient care.

They also work with practitioners looking to purchase or partner into an established practice, going through all the pros and cons, helping them decide which route forward best serves their needs.

Marsocci has been in the business a long time and has herself started multiple successful private practices in the Greater Philadelphia Region and New York area, so she knows what it takes both from the management side of it and the owner side. She is not a practitioner, she is an expert in healthcare systems management, and knows the industry inside and out.

Because part of her business is working with practices looking to sell, or improve their sustainability, she knows all the different areas where things can go wrong or need improvement. Her company helps with every single phase of the process, she will do everything from the ground up, including scouting out retail space, coordinating the website, installing the phone system, literally everything.

Marsocci is so successful because she never loses sight of the objective, providing the best care and making things better for the patient. She strives to be cutting edge and on top of trends in the industry, looking at all the new methods and business models that are working.

An example of that is telemedicine, which she was offering well before the COVID-19 pandemic made it so popular. As an entrepreneur herself, she knows exactly what struggles and challenges these practitioners will face and has a ready-made way to approach it.

Marsocci is an incredibly positive and insightful person, deeply committed to helping both physicians and patients. As a single mother, and woman in business, she understands how important work-life balance is and incorporates that into everything she does.

Connect with Marsocci on social media through LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit the Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting and Management website to see how they can help get your private practice started.

Planning for Retirement As a New Doctor

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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!