Independent Private Practice Work Values

Daily Duties at Independent Private Practice:

Throughout many years of postgraduate training in Family Systems, Crisis and Disaster Management, Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), Hypnosis and Trauma, respectively, I had always maintained a small private practice of 3-4 cases required for training. I supported myself and my training while gaining experience as a Behavioral Health Nursing Leader in several prestigious acute inpatient hospitals. When my training was officially completed, I decided it was time to try and develop my own Family Therapy Practice, something many professional acquaintances, mentors, friends and family strongly encouraged me to do. My husband had just passed away a year and a half before and I had finally settled his business responsibilities as a Private Investigator. To begin a practice the first requirement is usually to get yourself on some insurance panels as a provider but I was already on Cigna’s provider Panel and United Health Care’s and aware of the related, time consuming, paperwork requirements I decided to keep it doable and did not pursue other companies. Next, I independently, created a small business plan, budgeting expenses for mal practice insurance, office rent, marketing my practice with brochures, flyers, business cards (computer generated via Publisher and produced by me, expenses mostly for supplies paper, colored printer inkjets etc.) and postage. I alerted Cigna and US Health care of my availability and new office location. When a good friend of mine, already well established in her practice and sharing an office with two psychologists told me she was going to re-locate with her doctor husband who just got a great job in Washington D.C. and would I be interested in taking on her portion of the office lease with the two psychologists for 3 days a week. She could not transfer many of her clients to me because she had anticipated the possibility of this job off and had not been taking in new patients. I quickly arranged to meet the two psychologists, who were open to a new office mate and anxious to have help with the office rent in this great, luxury, high rise centrally located building in Riverdale, NY; also a pretty affluent area. And so it was that I instantly acquired a lovely office in a lovely area where I absolutely knew no other person, physician, psychiatrist, Psych RN, and had no contacts with any of the local hospitals except for these two psychologists. Psychologist # 2 was not really having much success and within a couple months asked us if he could bow out of the lease and sign it over to us. We agreed. What I learned from this experience and what I have always shared with my graduate students is: “Make your business plan with the bank and make sure you can survive for two years”. To supplement my income during my practice building endeavors I began teaching part time in the nursing program at Mount Saint Vincent’s College in Riverdale not far from the office. I began circulating my brochures, sending letters of introduction to local businesses with business cards and posting flyers in neighborhood grocery stores, schools, churches. I reached out with cold calls to try and set appointments with community leaders, clergy, athletic community coaches My practice got off to a slow start 3- 10 patients/week and I did move to a less expensive office when the lease was up. I developed a private practice that supported me for the better part of 18 years, some of it in the Riverdale Location and some of it in an attached garage converted to a very professional office attached to my home in Cortlandt Manor, where I installed a silent security alarm connected directly to the local State Police, which I actually never had reason to use. Partly do to interest and partly to increase my income at times I did do some intermittent consulting work in the area of quality improvement This is more information than you need for a resume I’m sure but it does add some reality and humor I hope. To run your own business totally unaided by clerical supports is challenging and it requires excellent organizational skills, expense management and control, a budget, flexibility and a good relationship with your accountant and the IRS. All of which I had in place, however, I did not want to take on any more insurance companies to drive me crazy so I remained mostly with Cigna and US Health Care and private paying clients. I developed wonderful relationships with physicians in internal medicine, mostly because as I wanted to be sure my clients were in good medical health when someone told me they had not had an annual physical off I sent them to their primary care MD for routine blood work and a physical. When medications were indicated it was the primary care MD or a collaborating psychiatrist I worked with who prescribed the medications and relied on me for feedback about the individual’s medication response. Cigna was very good to me as I also collaborated with them, providing crisis services with little or no notice as Cigna may have needed someone. Clinically, My resume lists most of my training and certifications. I am an astute clinician, with extensive experience in Family Systems, Crisis and Disaster Management and, PTSD. My assessment skills are sharp, focused and result in engaging a client or a client system, (Family) in working toward achieving specific, measurable, expected client outcomes that are structured to be achieved within reasonable time frames that the client is aware of or else requires quarterly reviews where we rethink what we are doing together. The insurance model generally accepted is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy which for me is a collaborative therapist/client engagement and work in progress in an outpatient setting. I don’t remember having any patient leave my care without mutual agreement or a referral to someone for the client’s special needs. I have worked with people experiencing anxious, obsessive, borderline symptoms and with PTSD, pedophiles and a few individuals with dissociative disorders. No Client in my care successfully committed suicide or murdered any one though there were a few close calls. I stopped practicing for personal reasons when I became responsible for the care of my older sister who had severe and chronic respiratory problems and eventually came to live with me until her death in January of 2012. I returned to teaching full time while caring for my sister because it made me more readily available for her needs and placed fewer demands on my time. My reported income during my practice years including whatever was $ 80,000.00 annually give or take and between both offices I generally worked a 30 hour week, evenings and Saturdays being popular client hours to cover an average client case load of 30 – 35/week.

What they like about Independent Private Practice:

You highly value a work environment built on a formal structure, rules, and regulations. You do not enjoy the unpredictability of shifting priorities and deadlines that upset your routine. You require and enjoy direction, input and accountability as part of your work environment. You have a strong need to participate in making key decisions and feel left out if your superiors or co-workers do not seek your input when making decisions. You thrive on providing good customer service to both internal or external customers, and doing so makes you feel good.

Tags

Innovative Quality Improvement Specialist, Innovative Problem Solver, Team Leader, Administrator, Director, Marketer, Creative Presenter, Analyst, Educator, Expert Clinican, Researcher, Technologically Skilled

Skills

Dynamic and Effective Communicator, Dynamic and Effective Problem Solver, Clear, Organized, Systematic, Goal Directed Achiever, Articulate, Dynamic, Creative Presenter , Critical and Creative Thinker, Analytical, Team Leader, Effectively communicates in writing, verbally, non verbally and technologically

These are some of the questions we asked our climbers about their experiences with Independent Private Practice: