My Story

In 2003, my wife, who is a pediatrician, decided she wanted to open her medical clinic. Motivations varied, but in essence, she felt that she wasn’t reaching her full potential where she was working. Moreover, she wanted to practice on her terms. So what better way to meet both than to open her medical practice?

In retrospect the timing was perfect. I was in-between jobs (I was a marketing consultant. I helped companies create, carry out and manage marketing initiatives), which gave me the chance to help get the practice up and running. The plan? Secure loans, lease office space, buy office furniture, computers, equipment, credentialing, etc. and once the practice was up-and-running, I’d return to my job as a marketing consultant.

Scared but determined, we opened the clinic on March 1st, 2004. For the first few weeks, it was just her and me. I answered the phones, made appointments, checked patients in and out and my wife worked as an LPN, CNA, MA, RN, and MD.

Parents were amazed it was the doctor that invited them in, took vitals, prepared and administered shots in addition to doing the MD stuff. Parents didn’t know the reason for the personalized care was merely a financial issue. We couldn’t afford to hire support staff just yet.

A few months later and with a couple of employees helping now, we decided it was time for me to find a paying job. Soon after I was consulting for a well-known financial institution. I still oversaw the most crucial aspects of the practice, like paying the bills, reviewing prove-outs, depositing checks and the likes.

We knew in the back of our minds that the practice needed an office manager eventually. But during my absence from the practice, while working full-time for the financial institution, it became apparent that we needed someone with a different type of skill set to manage the office.

An office manager was critical, but the practice also needed someone that had the big picture in mind, particularly with the profitability aspect of business. Someone that not only made sure medical supplies were ordered and set staff schedules but also had a broader, administrative-focused oversight.

We thought long and hard. But we could not come up with a single name that fits the requirements.

I’m kidding. The best person for the job was me. Not because I had all the skill set or the experience (I didn’t even know what an ICD-9 or CPT code was). I was the best person for the job because nobody else – other than my wife had such an enormous vested interest in the success of the practice.

We also felt I was the best person for the job because I was able to dedicate 100% of my time ensuring that at the end of the day, more money came into the practice than went out.

Consequently, freeing the doctor (and future hired doctors) to be dedicated 100% to patient care.

Once I completed my commitment to the company I was consulting for, I dived in exclusively into managing Salud Pediatrics.

Ten plus years later, I’m still in the same role, and I’m happy to report that my wife and I are still married. As it turns out, we can work together (not for everybody, I know. But we are proof that it is possible).