If you are a fully qualified GP and are looking into taking your medical career into a new phase of growth with improved income opportunities, then you may be considering starting up your own independent medical practice. Being in charge of a GP practice can enable you to achieve greater lifestyle goals and gives the satisfaction of directly providing high quality healthcare to a wide range of community members. However, starting a medical practice requires immense amounts of time and dedication and there are multiple factors to consider when starting out on this journey. Here are just three of the key planning considerations to think about when embarking on such a venture.
Location And Building
A prime consideration is the location of the new medical practice. Research must be undertaken to determine the level of demand for GP services in locations of interest. Are they well served with existing GP practices or is there demand for more in underserved areas? It may be significantly more difficult to attract new patients in areas that are already well served with GP practices, however, this may not necessarily be the case if your GP practice is set up to specialize in specific fields or niches of medicine that are not served in these areas. In terms of building choice, a key consideration is whether to take over an existing building and repurpose it or to build a surgery from new. Clearly new build costs will be significantly higher than purchasing an existing building, although a new build offers the distinct benefit of being able to be designed exactly to your requirements.
Build An Effective Supply Chain
Every efficient and well-run GP practice relies on strong links with its suppliers to ensure that key medical equipment and medical devices are delivered on time. A surgery will need to replenish single use items and infection control products on a regular basis to ensure that it can serve its patients effectively, and having strong links with suppliers such as medical-supermarket.com are vital to keep the supply chain running. In today’s world many medical suppliers operate online which allows orders to be placed quickly and efficiently from a variety of tech devices.
Ask For Specialist Advice
A GP practice is a complex business and will require numerous factors to be considered to ensure its long-term functioning. From the outset of the business, tax considerations will need to be investigated along with financial planning to ensure the business remains economically viable. It is likely that legal advice from specialists in the field will also be required to ensure that the practice operates safely and effectively whilst being protected in the event of adverse incidents and potential litigation. These are just some of the specialist information that will be required. Over time, as the practice grows and more employees are taken on there may be an increasing need for specialist advice from HR professionals and external training providers. It makes perfect sense to investigate what specialist advice will be required before the practice opens for business to ensure that it is compliant and safe.
