6 December 2023
Consultants tend to be a solitary breed. They guard their private practices jealously and consider other consultants competition. We understand, after all they may,have spent years building their business.
At Medmin we have a different view. We build clinics around specialisms rather than individuals. We team up surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, histopathologists, radiotherapists – in fact any combination of practitioners that might mean a broad range of treatments for patients.
In most cases, self pay patients start their journey to health with Google. They search for their condition (if they have already had a diagnosis) or perhaps their symptoms. That’s why we tend to brand our clinics in an easily recognisable form – thebirminghamherniaclinic.com, birminghambowelclinic.co.uk, birminghamurologycentre.com etc. And that’s important, because search is where we find the vast majority of self-pay patients.
Once the patient has had an initial consultation, it makes sense to keep that patient’s treatment within the clinic where at all possible. Patients know that their cases are discussed at multidisciplinary meetings providing them with the reassurance that they are getting the very best opinions and given all the possible options for their treatment at all times. If a consultant is away, patients can continue to be treated within the group, the shared patient record ensuring that all clinicians are up to date with treatment and progress.
From the participants side, shared practices can build real value. Our clinics are structured as Limited liability Partnerships (LLPs) which are a widely used structure in healthcare. There are economies of scale across the group, members can join and leave with no employee related securities tax risk and members can be individuals or corporate vehicles if they wish.
Medmin takes a stake in the business and invests in marketing and brand-building as well as providing management, admin and billing services. Clinicians can concentrate on seeing patients without the distraction of managing the business or indeed the risk in running marketing campaigns.
Of course, being part of a bigger group also makes negotiating with service providers a little easier – and that’s something we do on behalf of all of our clients. Finding theatre access during Covid for example – a more interesting proposition for a group rather than an individual practitioner.
And then there comes the time when members want to retire – as an individual in private practice you simply walk away. As part owner of a clinic you get to realise the stake you have built up over the years or the clinic may become a target for acquisition by a hospital group or other healthcare investor.
So lone gunman or team player, at the end of the day it depends on how you like to work but we believe that ‘Together is Better’ both for patients and the clinicians who attend them.