Resources

Everything you wanted to ask before asking anyone.

Plain-language guides to starting your own practice while you are still employed. Written for physicians, kept current by our team.

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20 guides
Leaving Employment 9 min read Should I Leave My Hospital Job to Start My Own Practice? An Honest Framework Leave when your dissatisfaction is structural, you have 6–12 months of runway, and a launch plan. An honest framework — including when staying is right. Read the guide Legal & Contracts 8 min read How to Know If Your Physician Employment Contract Is Fair A physician contract is fair when each clause sits within market norms — comp, RVU terms, termination, tail, non-compete. A clause-by-clause checklist. Read the guide Legal & Contracts 8 min read Physician Non-Compete Clauses, Explained: What They Mean and Whether Yours Is Enforceable A physician non-compete bars you from practicing within a set radius (often 5–30 miles) for 1–2 years after leaving. What it means and when it's enforceable. Read the guide Leaving Employment 8 min read Burned Out as an Employed Physician? Your Actual Options, Ranked Burned-out employed physicians have five real options: renegotiate, switch employers, cut hours, go non-clinical, or go independent. Ranked with tradeoffs. Read the guide Launch Playbook 10 min read How to Test Your Own Practice Without Quitting Your Job Yes — most physicians can test a practice while employed: check your non-compete and moonlighting clauses, build the foundation, see a small cash-pay panel. Read the guide Launch Playbook 9 min read How to Start Your Own Medical Practice From Scratch: The Complete Sequence Starting a medical practice takes eight ordered steps: entity, EIN/NPI, malpractice, banking, payment model, EHR, HIPAA, launch. Here is the full sequence. Read the guide Launch Playbook 7 min read The Complete Checklist for Opening a New Medical Practice Complete checklist for opening a medical practice: legal, financial, operational, compliance, and growth items with owners and timing. Cash-pay: weeks. Read the guide Launch Playbook 8 min read How Long It Actually Takes to Open a Private Medical Practice Opening a private practice takes 4–6 weeks to 12 months. Cash-pay skips the 90–150-day payer credentialing wait; DIY insurance launches run 6–12 months. Read the guide Costs & Economics 7 min read How Much It Costs to Start a Private Medical Practice (Real Numbers) Starting a private practice costs from five figures for a lean cash-pay launch to far more for an insurance build-out. Line-item budget ranges by model. Read the guide Licensing & Compliance 8 min read Licenses and Credentialing You Need to Open a Clinic To open a clinic you need a state medical license, NPIs, EIN, DEA if prescribing, and permits. Payer credentialing adds 90–150 days — cash-pay skips it. Read the guide Legal & Contracts 8 min read How to Set Up the Legal Entity for Your Medical Practice (PC, PLLC, and the CPOM Problem) Most states bar physicians from using a standard LLC. How to set up a PC or PLLC instead, what the CPOM doctrine means for ownership, and the filing sequence. Read the guide Launch Help 8 min read Do You Need a Consultant to Start Your Practice? DIY vs. Consultant vs. Done-for-You You don't need a consultant — you need the work done. An honest comparison of the DIY, consultant, and done-for-you launch paths: cost, time, failure modes. Read the guide Launch Help 9 min read Services That Set Up Your Medical Practice for You: What Exists and What They Cover Yes — services exist that set up a medical practice for you. An honest map of consultants, lawyers, software vendors, and full end-to-end launch services. Read the guide Patient Growth 8 min read How to Get Your First Patients for a New Practice Your first patients come from work you do 90 days before opening: an interest list, activated referrals, and local presence — not ads. The sequenced plan. Read the guide HIPAA & Compliance 8 min read HIPAA Compliance for a New Clinic: What You Actually Need on Day One Day-one HIPAA for a new clinic: risk analysis, BAAs with every PHI vendor, core safeguards, a privacy notice, training, and a breach plan — no enterprise bloat. Read the guide Launch Playbook 8 min read The Biggest Mistakes Doctors Make When Starting a Practice The eight mistakes that sink new physician practices — contract surprises, thin runway, tool sprawl, underpricing — and the prevention step for each one. Read the guide Practice Models 9 min read How to Start a Direct Primary Care Practice Start a DPC practice: form your entity, price the membership, set a 400–800 patient panel target, decide your Medicare position, and enroll founding members. Read the guide Practice Models 8 min read How to Transition From Insurance-Based to Direct Primary Care Transitioning to DPC: model attrition first, choose gradual or clean conversion, notify payers, communicate early with patients, and plan 6–12 months of runway. Read the guide Software & Stack 7 min read What Software You Need to Run an Independent Medical Practice An independent practice needs seven software functions — charting, scheduling, intake, messaging, payments, compliance, online booking. Cash-pay skips claims. Read the guide Software & Stack 7 min read Best EMR for a Small Independent Practice (and How to Choose) No single best EMR: cash-pay and DPC practices weigh Atlas MD, Cerbo, Elation, and Hint pairings. Choose your payment model first, then apply eight criteria. Read the guide

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