Questions for Dr. Stern
About Your Urgent Care Center
76. I have been considering opening an urgent care facility as a non-physician for some time now. In what ways, if any, can I attract a physician to practice out of my facility?
In order to get a physician to join you, you will need to offer him/her something. If you have financial wherewithal, maybe you could offer a partnership, but you will need to be careful about whom you choose. Many primary care physicians would love to open an urgent care center, but they simply do not have the money to do it. If you allow the physician to earn into the practice over the first 3-5 years, you might be able to find a way to make this work. After 5 years, he might own ~30% of the practice, or if he put in $100K up front, maybe he could own 50% at five years. You would have to work out a financial arrangement in advance for either of you to purchase the other’s portion of the practice if things do not work out between the two of you or if the business does not succeed.
Note: many states do not allow non-physicians to own an urgent care practice, but they will allow you to form a medical management company, and you would set it up so all profits/losses end up in the medical management company.
