3 Challenges To Finding the Right Private Physician Peer Group
There’s an interesting dynamic at work in every award show. The room is filled with successful individuals being praised for their exceptional solo performances or achievements. A winner is announced and the audience applauds them as they approach the stage to receive their award.
The winner — an individual — is literally pedestalized above the rest. In that moment, they are the sole recipient of attention and admiration. But then something happens.
The speech that follows always has one clear message: “I didn’t do it alone.” They’ve personally achieved the highest level of success. Still, in nearly every case, the winner spends their allotted 120 seconds publicly acknowledging and thanking the people who helped them along the way.
It highlights a simple truth — greatness doesn’t happen in a vacuum. To achieve great things, we need to surround ourselves with great people. The world’s top performers — in every industry and area of expertise — surround themselves with mentors, coaches and peers to push them to be the best. Their success depends on it.
Peer groups, networks or masterminds are essential for achieving peak success. As Tony Robbins puts it, “The quality of a person’s life is most often a direct reflection of the expectations of their peer group.”
The problem is, there’s a big gap between understanding the importance of a peer group and finding the right peer group — especially for private physicians.
We’ll unpack the unique challenges concierge and DPC physicians face when searching for a peer group — in their case, the right physician network
But first, is it even worth the effort?
The Value of a Peer Group
Every peer group, network or mastermind is different — each one with its own particular style, format and characteristics. But regardless of the specific industry, they all essentially revolve around the same core benefits:
- Insight about operational best practices.
- Insight about business best practices.
- Connectivity and camaraderie through community.
Operational best practices are about the inner workings of the primary industry, field or topic that the members have in common. They’re about the craft or specific area of expertise — all things that would fall into the category of “working IN the business.”
Business best practices include the aspects of owning or managing the business itself, separate from the unique operations. This includes issues like sales, marketing, hiring, accounting, management, scaling and exit strategy — things we’d classify as “working ON the business.”
Connectivity and camaraderie through community is the standout feature of peer groups. It’s the primary reason for joining a group in the first place, versus taking a course or attending a conference about best practices. The community makes the group dynamic, provides support and accountability, and gives you an outlet to work through difficult problems and questions with like-minded people in real time.
For private physicians, peer groups — or physician networks — are the independent equivalents of the traditional physicians’ lounge, but with much higher intent.
They provide a venue to discuss medical best practices and developments ranging from new diagnostic tools, treatments and care to the latest medical research and publications.
They give entrepreneurial physicians a dedicated environment to discuss business best practices like patient management, practice branding, key person insurance, recruiting, navigating the ultra-sensitive issues around Medicare, and more.
And of course, physician networks provide a community where there’s encouragement, accountability and a sense of belonging among like-minded physicians. These hard-to-find peers are also chasing (and achieving) goals in business and life that would seem completely unrealistic to any other cohort.
The best peer groups are the ones that check each box, helping their members navigate struggles and excel in their practices, businesses and personal lives.
But there’s a catch. The most foundational characteristic of a physician network — a peer group — is that it must be made up of people who are genuine “peers.” This is especially difficult for world-class private physicians for several reasons.
1. You’re a Physician AND an Entrepreneur
There are so many words that can describe elite private concierge and DPC physicians. I’ve coined the term “purple unicorn fighter pilot” to describe the rarity, expertise and often competitive nature embodied in such top performers.
As if 10 years of medical training wasn’t enough, you decided to create a business. Medicine and entrepreneurship are two of the most difficult professional challenges a person can take on. And you’ve combined them into a single career.
Mastering the practice of medicine is a daunting professional challenge. Practicing medicine at a high level requires a depth of knowledge, a commitment to lifelong study, and an abundance of care for the patients in your panel.
Business ownership demands imagination, persistence, and guts. Entrepreneurs face the financial struggles of getting a business off the ground. You grapple with unknowns, risks, successes and failures daily.
Both aspects take courage, intuition and intestinal fortitude, and you took them both on…at the same time.
There are peer groups for physicians, and there are peer groups for entrepreneurs. But you are both, which means your peers are both. You need a group of these peers.
Discussing the latest advances in things like proteomics with medical colleagues is wonderful. But most physicians won’t be able to understand the distinct nuances of running a cash-based membership medicine practice around those very topics.
You can commiserate with CEOs in other industries about hiring, firing, and attracting talented employees to a team. But non-medical entrepreneurs can’t speak to issues around Medicare nor the business implications to consider regarding the latest oncology diagnostics.
Physicians who own their private practices require a completely different level of insight, feedback and connectivity from their counterparts.
2. You’re Already Successful
When you first opened your practice, you probably relied on help from several colleagues. As you started a new chapter of practicing medicine and running a business, the advice and support were invaluable.
Since then, you’ve jumped through all the hoops that would have tripped up a less determined businessperson or physician — like securing funding, finding a building, hiring staff and building a panel of patients from scratch. Your practice already brings in significant recurring revenue. Your doors are open, your loans are paid off, and you probably have more new patients than you have the capacity to deal with.
In short, you’re crushing it. But this presents a difficult dilemma.
On one hand, receiving occasional casual advice from people who can’t identify with your situation doesn’t hold the value it used to. With a more developed business, you need intentional help from people who’ve been there before.
On the other hand, you don’t need an incubator or someone to hold your hand to get your practice off the ground. You’re already cruising above 30,000 feet.
Successful private physicians need a network of elite peers who can offer insight and support at the highest levels.
Considering expanding your concierge practice to multiple locations? The young physician still struggling to pay their mortgage probably shouldn’t be your go-to for advice.
Looking for better ways to manage surplus revenue or overwhelming patient load? Then you probably shouldn’t seek advice from new private physicians who will roll their eyes at your “problems.”
Other private physicians who haven’t reached your level of success can help to a certain point. They can even make you feel really good about your circumstances by comparison. But there comes a time when your problems have outgrown their problems.
You bring up your advanced issues and their implied response is, “Cry me a river, doc. I see you getting into your Maserati and driving to your mansion. You’re doing just fine.” That’s when you know you’re in the wrong network.
3. You’re (Still) Not Content With the Status Quo
One of the reasons you’ve become so successful is that you’re not satisfied with being well above average.
You willingly took on the challenges of becoming a physician, excelling at it, and then turning it into a business. There’s nothing average about that. But now, even with your current success, you’re still looking to up-level.
Does this mean you’re never satisfied? That you have an unhealthy, unquenchable level of ambition that’s blinding you to what success is?
Of course not. But you firmly believe that if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. And as good as things are right now, good enough isn’t good enough.
There are always processes to improve and efficiencies to be gained in patient care, patient experience, community impact and business growth. To a person like you, any input about how to do that is welcome.
We once chatted with a private physician who said he was interested in joining the ROAMD community. After hearing an explanation of how the group worked, he suggested ROAMD should pay him for giving advice to others. This otherwise successful concierge physician had no ambition to improve himself or his business. He was satisfied with his status quo, and therefore wasn’t a good fit for our community.
The constant desire for growth isn’t universal. Some people are just content to get off the elevator at a certain point. That mindset can be detrimental to a physician network.
A network made up of physicians who are eager to learn AND share, regardless of how successful and brilliant they are — that’s where the magic happens.
The Keys To Finding Success in a Physician Network
So how do you find the perfect physician network?
First, look for peers who are accomplished in everything they do. Find physicians who are further down the path you want to be on, and learn from them.
If you can’t find a physician network or mastermind that meets your needs as a physician in a membership-based medicine practice, you could create a one-on-one mentor relationship with an accomplished physician you admire.
Put them on your advisory board, or make them a shareholder in your business. Make it worth their time to answer all the questions you’ll have to ask.
But if you’re able to find and join the right network, there are several keys that will help you maximize your experience.
Stay Eager To Learn
As a caregiver and leader, you’re the one your patients and staff turn to when they need help or answers. But no one can be everything to everyone all the time.
When you find the right peer group, it’s time for you to become a recipient. You’ll contribute, of course, but you’ll also receive benefit from others you can trust.
The right physician network is one place where you shouldn’t be the smartest person in the room. Once you find it, remember that your group is full of talented, driven and accomplished private physicians who have something to offer you, too.
Balance Confidence With Humility
Come to the group with confidence, knowing you have much to contribute. But be humble, knowing you also have a lot to learn.
One of our ROAMD members encourages others to “argue like you’re right, and listen like you’re wrong!”
Value Mutual Respect and Trust
Trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. The importance of trust and mutual respect in a network of physicians can’t be overstated. These qualities are utterly essential in a peer group of elite physicians.
Trust is the filter we use to evaluate every piece of advice we receive — from operational and business best practices to personal issues.
For example, if you ask a group of your peers whether an expensive piece of medical equipment is worth the cost, their input is only as valuable as your level of trust in their experience and expertise.
Being able to walk into a room where trust is automatic, where everyone else in that room is thoroughly vetted and similarly committed? That’s invaluable.
When approaching a new physician network, you must be willing to be honest in several key areas.
- Be honest about your situation. Many physician networks require their members to share key performance indicators each year. These metrics help other group members gain perspective on their own numbers and benchmarks so everyone can improve. A willingness to share uninflated metrics is vital to the success of the group.
- Be honest about your advice. Don’t offer advice on topics you don’t know about. You wouldn’t prescribe a patient medication you knew nothing about. Give the same courtesy to your peers.
- Be honest with yourself. If the network isn’t working for you, or if you’re not able to contribute to it, be confident enough to walk away without regrets. Don’t turn negative within the group; just get out if it’s not working.
Honesty builds trust — don’t burn it.
Aim High
Finding the right physician network of true peers that will help you propel your practice forward is anything but simple. But it’s far from impossible.
The challenges of finding a perfect fit shouldn’t discourage you — they should act as filters to help you make the best choice for your future.
Want to see if ROAMD is a good fit for you and your practice? Contact us to set up a time to talk.
Dr. Scott Pope serves as the Chief Growth Officer at In Scope Ventures, a growth consulting firm focused on early stage healthcare companies. Scott is passionate about healthcare entrepreneurship and has been involved in various advocacy efforts to promote innovation in the industry.
Scott earned his PharmD from Ohio Northern University, where he participated in Habitat for Humanity, Phi Mu Delta, Order of Omega, and NCAA basketball. After graduating from ONU, Scott completed a pharmacy residency at Cone Health, followed by a specialty residency in infectious diseases, internal medicine, and academics at Campbell University and Duke University Medical Center.
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