During residency, most doctors feel like they live at the hospital, but there are a few these days who actually do. Work from home is an option for many professions, but it’s not associated so much with medicine anymore.
There was a day when it was not uncommon for doctors to see patients out of their homes. They would have an area of the house which functioned as the waiting room and one or two rooms for exams and treatment. It worked best for those areas of medicine not requiring high technology or dangerous procedures, but a hundred years ago, that was most medicine.
Today medicine is so technical and medical management so dependent upon specialists, including insurance specialists and specialty trained nurses, that one doctor managing a practice out of his home seems not just quaint but anachronistic.
Small specialty practices exist at offices small enough to fit into a home, so why not create such an arrangement? Ideally, a doctor should be close enough to a hospital or emergency services that if a patient collapses in his office and needs emergency care, it is available, but this is certainly not unrealistic.
Property in New York City is nothing if not expensive. Controlling expenses is essential. A gastroenterologist may work at more than one small clinic in the city, admit patients to one of several major hospitals and find time for other activities including research and teaching. A random search for such a GI specialist may yield a respected clinician like Dr. Shawn Khodadadian who manages a successful practice at several locations in the area and involves himself in a number of related activities like teaching.
Slowing down
But what if a doctor decides he may want to simplify his life, cut back on the travel around Manhattan, and take life a little easier? (Assuming such a concept is compatible with the New York lifestyle.)
Rent an apartment over an office suitable for outpatient care and you have it. Commuting to work involves an elevator. Or stairs. Your call schedule is from a bed that is closer than the residents’ rooms at any teaching hospital. Say goodbye to hospital food; your meals come out of your kitchen and are served fresh at your own dining room table. You don’t even need a hard separation between your office and your home. You can store medical documents upstairs in your apartment and even do your reports and billing from the comfort of your home.
Slashing overhead
In a day when overhead costs can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful medical practice, consolidating home and office functions while eliminating the need for a car makes sense. We’ve talked about New York as an example, but the principle applies anywhere. Renting or buying property with the express purpose in mind of efficiently maintaining a medical practice is a realistic approach to any profession one intends to practice for many years into the future.
