The cost of running a practice seems to rise each year. Depending on the type of medical practice, overhead expenses may be a significant percentage of your practice’s total revenue, estimated to be as much as 60 percent.*
It takes a lot of planning, dedication, time and money to make a medical practice work efficiently and profitably. But if a disability should strike, you might be unable to work for an extended period of time. Without the right disability insurance, everything you have worked so hard to achieve could be lost.
One of the many points of pride for Texas is the number of independent physicians who practice in the Lone Star State. Although an increasing number of physicians across the country are leaving private practice to become hospital employees, many Texas physicians are able to retain their independence. According to the 2016 TMA Physician survey, 26% of those surveyed are in solo practice, another 22% are group practice owners who are co-owners or shareholders and 5% are in partnerships.*
Like many physicians, you may believe that your individual long-term disability insurance and savings would help protect you, if you were unable to work due to an illness or injury. But individual disability benefits are designed to cover your personal and family expenses, not pay overhead expenses for your practice.
As Texans, we treasure our independence, and it shows. In Texas, 63% of physicians are independent, either in a solo or small practice of no more than three physicians. But as the saying goes, ‘responsibility is the price of freedom.’ The burden of financial responsibility can be a heavy one for physicians, especially independent or solo practitioners.
Medical practice owners have a great deal of overhead expenses for which they are responsible. In fact, according to the 2014 MGMA Cost Survey Report, practice operating expenses range from 50% to over 80% of total medical revenue. Additionally, Modern Medicine cited rising operational costs as one of the top 15 challenges facing physicians in 2015. So, what happens to the practice you’ve built if you became disabled?
Have you ever asked yourself, “Can my business survive if I’m not there”? Most physicians would say no since their practice relies on them so much. Whether you are just starting your own practice, or you are growing an existing one, it’s important that it keeps running smoothly even if something should happen to you.
Like most physicians who own a small or midsize practice, you are the key player in keeping your practice profitable, and if you’re not there to see patients, your practice will quickly fail. Well, that’s what Office Overhead Expense Insurance is there for – a way to keep your business functioning even when you can’t be there.
If you are a Texas physician who owns or co-owns a practice, you know there is a lot at stake in addition to your patients’ health. All of the time, energy, money and planning put forth for the practice to be successful should be protected – this is where an Office Overhead Expense Insurance policy comes into play.
An overhead policy can help keep your office running smoothly in the unexpected event that you or another physician becomes disabled and cannot work. Adding up employee’s salaries, utilities, rent, taxes, equipment leases, and other miscellaneous fees, bills begin to mount quickly and can be an added burden upon the practice and the physician while recuperating. Office Overhead Expense Insurance can help keep the doors open and assist you in a variety of ways.
