Too often, physicians pay some money, take custody of charts and then sit back hoping something good comes of it. A more active approach can work wonders, says this practice management consultant. By Jeffrey J. Denning Technically, only pediatricians have new patients. For other physicians, patients new to a practice were probably patients of a colleague previously.
Most physicians are squeamish about 'raiding' a colleague's practice, and rightly so.
Of course, we're talking about the common practice of purchasing a practice from a doctor who is retiring or moving. It can often be a smart way to enhance or refine a going concern, but if you buy a practice, you should make sure you get what you pay for. First, taking over a doctor's charts implies some responsibility to let the patients know where the charts are. Many buyers leave it to the seller to do that, though. If the seller does, it may just be a tiny ad in the public notices section of a newspaper's classified ad pages.