4 Common Ways Elite Physicians Undervalue Themselves
Physicians are hyper-wired for empathy. It’s a wonderful quality, and it’s what makes them so great at their jobs.
But a side effect of that empathy is an almost ubiquitous tendency for physicians to undervalue themselves.
This is true whether it’s in fee-for-service positions or a concierge practice. In evaluating their worth to patients, physicians tend to underestimate the positive impact and influence they can have on people’s lives.
Consider a patient who has suffered from restless nights, itchy skin, and GI upset for years. Then one day they come to see you, and you invest the time to genuinely assess their case and investigate root causes. Your workup uncovers that the patient is gluten sensitive, and you deliver the news.
To you, that was all in a day’s work. To the patient, that diagnosis was life-changing. That relatively short amount of your time resulted in years of downstream benefits for that patient and left an indelible mark on the fabric of their life.
So what, specifically, do physicians tend to undervalue about themselves? What mindset traps do they fall into, and how can they reframe their thinking?
1. Their Time
Unless you own a DeLorean and a flux capacitor, nobody has more than 24 hours in a day.
As a physician and a businessperson, you have the training and ability to offer patients a huge amount of value in your allotted 24 hours. And that value doesn’t only lie in your direct, one-on-one appointments.
It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “The time I’m in front of patients is the only time I should get paid for.” But what about the time you spent studying that patient’s labs, preparing for their visit, or managing the business of your practice so their appointment could seamlessly take place?
One ROAMD member practice has daily morning rounds before any patients arrive in the office. They walk through the day’s schedule and how to prepare for each appointment. Is our elderly patient with limited mobility coming in today? Then let’s have a wheelchair waiting downstairs for her at the door.
That’s a huge investment in time and resources, but one that makes world-class patient care possible.
Concierge physicians commit so much time to their practices and their patients. They spend hours researching, consulting, preparing, and considering related to patients’ cases, and they have payroll, rent, bills, and insurance to manage besides. And of course they see the patients themselves.
The value of your time as a physician goes beyond patient care, because truly valuable patient care can’t happen unless you also spend time on everything else.
If you only look at a billable hour, you literally sell yourself short. You undervalue what your time is worth. Instead, take a step back and try to get a full picture of the time you’re giving. Consider everything you commit to your business that makes your level of patient care possible.
You can’t make more time. But you can price appropriately for the time that you have.
2. Their Expertise
Another mindset trap physicians can fall into is that of undervaluing their significant expertise.
As a physician, you can forget to account for your extensive education, training, residency, and experience. And, often, the more time passes, the more this discounting occurs.
How can this happen when so much intense preparation goes into readying physicians for patient care?
Perhaps it makes sense that a first-year resident just out of school wouldn’t yet think much of their value. But you’ve come so far from that fresh-faced neophyte with barely any experience.
Many concierge physicians simply lose sight of how high they’ve climbed, and it greatly diminishes their perception of their stature in the world and their worth to others.
It’s important to remember that not only are you an experienced, skilled physician, you’re also a successful entrepreneur. These are two of the most challenging career tracks a person can take on — and you’ve decided to pursue both at once. Most people don’t have anywhere near your expertise.
To help get some perspective, take the occasional moment to look back at where you were when you were first getting started. Reflect on how far you’ve come since that time — in patient care, in business, in relationships, etc.
This kind of mindful consideration can help remind you of how much you have to offer your patients and your practice. It’s more than just a self-esteem boost. It’s something to be reflected in your pricing as well.
3. Their Own Well-Being
Caregivers are typically the last ones to receive care. This may be less true for concierge physicians, who often better understand that if they’re not well, they can’t tend to their practice and patients well. But it’s still a major issue.
If private physicians don’t make their own well-being a priority, burnout can creep in — and it happens a lot faster than you’d think.
You are the centerpiece of your practice. When you’re not well, either mentally or physically, everything begins to crumble under your feet.
If you’ve gone so far as to acquire key person insurance, which we recommend private physicians consider, then why not also go the extra mile to ensure (as far as you can) that you remain functional in your key role for as long as possible?
One way to accomplish this is by getting your office involved. Make sure they know that if they find you in on a Friday night at seven, they can tell you to go home. Allow others to hold you accountable for taking care of yourself.
When you lead with this kind of example, a healthy concern for personal well-being will become part of the culture of your practice.
4. Their Role as a Business Leader
The final mindset trap many entrepreneurial doctors fall into is thinking of themselves as a physician first.
That may sound a little shocking, but bear with me.
Most concierge physicians think of themselves as doctors first. It’s part of their identity. Business is something they do, but medicine is who they are.
The trouble is, if you go into the office every day thinking of yourself as a physician first and a business leader second, your practice is missing something. In reality, the business you’re leading happens to be in the practice of medicine. You’re a physician working in that business, but, unless you’ve hired someone to be it, you’re also the businessperson leading that business.
Yes, you can be both a physician and a business leader at the same time. But for the sake of your practice, you need to be a business leader first.
It took a lot of energy, money, and risk to get started in this business of practicing medicine on your own terms. But growth isn’t easy, and it doesn’t happen by accident.
To sustainably grow a practice that can take care of more patients and hire more physicians, you need to make time to work on the business, not just in the business. If you only view your practice from the perspective of a physician taking care of patients, you’ll never give yourself the mental bandwidth to really focus on the strategy of growing the business.
So while you are absolutely both a doctor and a business leader at the same time, if the business leader in you doesn’t lead, then eventually the physician in you doesn’t have work.
This is a mindset shift you must make. Value the business leader in you. And value the time that’s required to fill that role really well. Give yourself the space to work on your business, to strategize, to improve it.
The Result: Fees Match the Physician’s Perception of Value
If you undervalue these four things — your time, your expertise, your well-being, and your role as a business leader — then you undervalue what it takes to do all that you do really well. And the natural result is that you undercharge for your services.
This undercharging creates a cycle of misaligned compensation for everything you pour into doing this business well — one that continuously results in undervaluing yourself even more.
Most people struggle to excel in one profession. You’re excelling in two. Remember to value yourself and your contributions, and set your prices accordingly.
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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