35 min
Preserving Independent Medical Practices with Dr. Christine Meyer The Prosperous Doc
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- Medicine
Dr. Christine Meyer’s negative experience working as an employed physician in poorly managed medical practices motivated her to become an independent doctor and launch her entrepreneurial career with her husband. The pair believed that they could provide better patient care through their own venture.
“I think the movement towards value-based care in medicine has been tremendous and so enjoyable. I know a lot of people feel like it’s a grind, and it’s so hard to meet these metrics and earn these incentives. But what it has done for our practice is truly improve the quality of care that our patients receive,” Dr. Meyer says.
In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, host Shane Tenny, CFP®, welcomes Dr. Meyer to discuss the preservation of independent medical practices and the alarming changes in the medical landscape over the past decade, with many private practices disappearing or being acquired.
In 2022, the American Medical Association found that wholly physician-owned practices had dropped from 60% a decade ago to just above 45%.
Despite the challenges of running an independent practice, Dr. Meyer can attest to how rewarding it can be. In its early days, the practice was just her, two examining rooms, and a couple hundred patients. Today, her practice includes five physicians, 15 advanced practitioners, and a team of 55 with multiple buildings to support the more than 20,000 patients they are responsible for.
“People probably think they need to have some sort of a business degree to run a successful medical practice, and you really don’t,” Dr. Meyer says. “I think it goes back to the patient experience. If you’re a physician and you went into medicine to provide patients with an excellent experience, you can run a successful medical practice.”
💡 Featured Guest 💡Name: Dr. Christine Meyer
What she does: Dr. Meyer is the founder and owner of Christine Meyer, MD and Associates. She was born and raised in New Jersey to first-generation Egyptian parents. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University and then went on to earn her Medical Degree from Hahnemann University School of Medicine (now Drexel University). Dr. Meyer then completed her Internal Medicine Residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine.
Company: Christine Meyer, MD and Associates
Words of wisdom: “Private practice allows you to build a culture in your organization that you are proud to work in.”
Connect: Website
💰 On the Money 💰Top takeaways from this episode
Bad business management equates to bad patient care. When Dr. Meyer experienced frustration with poor management while working as an employed physician, she saw how poor business management trickled down to affect patients. This is why, when the opportunity arose to venture out on her own as an independent practice, she didn’t hesitate to make the switch. It takes time for a new practice to be sustainable. It took Dr. Meyer about three years to start to see steady and stable growth in her practice. In the early days, she focused on providing excellent care to the initial patients. As her finances got stronger, she was able to expand the team that was seeing patients, which is when the revenue really started to come in. You need to trust someone else with your patients. One of the significant inflection points for Dr. Meyer was bringing on more practitioners to allow the practice to scale. While her first nurse practitioner...
Dr. Christine Meyer’s negative experience working as an employed physician in poorly managed medical practices motivated her to become an independent doctor and launch her entrepreneurial career with her husband. The pair believed that they could provide better patient care through their own venture.
“I think the movement towards value-based care in medicine has been tremendous and so enjoyable. I know a lot of people feel like it’s a grind, and it’s so hard to meet these metrics and earn these incentives. But what it has done for our practice is truly improve the quality of care that our patients receive,” Dr. Meyer says.
In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, host Shane Tenny, CFP®, welcomes Dr. Meyer to discuss the preservation of independent medical practices and the alarming changes in the medical landscape over the past decade, with many private practices disappearing or being acquired.
In 2022, the American Medical Association found that wholly physician-owned practices had dropped from 60% a decade ago to just above 45%.
Despite the challenges of running an independent practice, Dr. Meyer can attest to how rewarding it can be. In its early days, the practice was just her, two examining rooms, and a couple hundred patients. Today, her practice includes five physicians, 15 advanced practitioners, and a team of 55 with multiple buildings to support the more than 20,000 patients they are responsible for.
“People probably think they need to have some sort of a business degree to run a successful medical practice, and you really don’t,” Dr. Meyer says. “I think it goes back to the patient experience. If you’re a physician and you went into medicine to provide patients with an excellent experience, you can run a successful medical practice.”
💡 Featured Guest 💡Name: Dr. Christine Meyer
What she does: Dr. Meyer is the founder and owner of Christine Meyer, MD and Associates. She was born and raised in New Jersey to first-generation Egyptian parents. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University and then went on to earn her Medical Degree from Hahnemann University School of Medicine (now Drexel University). Dr. Meyer then completed her Internal Medicine Residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine.
Company: Christine Meyer, MD and Associates
Words of wisdom: “Private practice allows you to build a culture in your organization that you are proud to work in.”
Connect: Website
💰 On the Money 💰Top takeaways from this episode
Bad business management equates to bad patient care. When Dr. Meyer experienced frustration with poor management while working as an employed physician, she saw how poor business management trickled down to affect patients. This is why, when the opportunity arose to venture out on her own as an independent practice, she didn’t hesitate to make the switch. It takes time for a new practice to be sustainable. It took Dr. Meyer about three years to start to see steady and stable growth in her practice. In the early days, she focused on providing excellent care to the initial patients. As her finances got stronger, she was able to expand the team that was seeing patients, which is when the revenue really started to come in. You need to trust someone else with your patients. One of the significant inflection points for Dr. Meyer was bringing on more practitioners to allow the practice to scale. While her first nurse practitioner...
35 min