“The challenges are building consensus, governance, reaching agreements, having a shared set of objectives,” says Dr. Baraf. “I think merging practices, if you have two practices of five doctors, bringing them together, there is a lot of work involved in that, getting everybody to row in the same boat, in the same direction in a coordinated way. You’re doing a little merging of cultures.”
It also may mean handing over a bit of control or sharing it with your colleagues.
‘Make sure that the people you bring on are of like mind, that they work well in a group, that there are no flamethrowers.’
Dr. BarafLesley M. Arnold, MD
“You don’t necessarily have quite as tight control over the day-to-day operations,” Dr. White explains. “In a very small practice, the physician tends to exert more influence and control over their local environment, and I have to share that power with my partners. I think sometimes we are unable to be as agile and as quick as we could if we were smaller.”
The challenges don’t necessarily end after the practices have successfully merged.
“A larger entity creates more management issues because you have more staff, and ostensibly, you’re providing a broader range of services and they all need to be managed,” Dr. Baraf adds.
The Right Fit
Often, the qualities you should look for when trying to find the right colleagues to practice medicine with are the same as when working in any other field.
“It’s just kind of the normal personality attributes that you look for when you want to work with somebody in any setting,” says Dr. White. “I think you want people that have good interpersonal skills and that enjoy what they do, and if you’re surrounded by smart, motivated people or good communicators, I think you’re going to be fine.”
However, when hiring or merging practitioners who will be working in a group with several other physicians, there are a few things to be wary of.
“First, you want to make sure that the people you bring on are of like mind, that they work well in a group, that there are no flamethrowers,” explains Dr. Baraf. “You want to make sure that they are actively involved in management. They’re not there to be employed. They’re there to contribute, not just to provide the patient care, but to do the problem solving that needs to be done every day in medical practices.”
