Hey folks.
This is more of a private practice issue, as opposed to a school/residency issue. Since I no longer see a private practice forum, I decided to post it in here. Allow me to vent for a minute. I know the folks out in private practice can feel me on this post. WHAT IS THE DEAL with office managers?????

First of all, they are hired with good intention, to help run the office. There are many tasks that an office manager does such as: Hiring & firing of staff, negotiating contracts, dealing with some of the mundane office tasks (paying bills, keeping things kosher for inspection from the various agencies, assist with referrals, etc) while allowing you to tend to the medical things. Sounds good, right????

Well, lets fast forward a few years later. This supposedly benign office manager has now evolved into a GODZILLA-BEYOTCH before your very eyes, who now acts as if he/she is your boss. And what’s worse is that many docs just passively accept this role and let him/her run the show. This can be especially NIGHTMARISH if the office manager is the SPOUSE of the group leader, and you are one of the contracted employed docs.

Now the powers expand, they start opening your mail for you BEFORE YOU SEE IT. Now your mail is filtered and opened before you see it, they start committing you to contracts that you did not get a chance to see if that is something you wanted or not. Furthermore, this person with often ZERO medical training now starts WEARING A WHITECOAT AND/OR SCRUBS TO THE OFFICE, like he/she is some sort of practitioner all of a sudden. Even to the point of making clinical decisions with regard to certain patients. Now you KNOW at this point you created a monster. For icing on the cake, a spouse/office manager I know of is pulling almost a physician’s salary from the practice, yet the physician is always complaining about lack of funds. Why in da haill you allowed your wife to get that much money from the practice considering that your only source of income are the patient visits and hospital visits, and yet you are always complaining about money.

Anybody going through this/have gone through this???? Please share you office manager experiences/nightmares…

For the record, I am now a SOLO practitioner, and the ONLY office manager is ME!!


PEACE!!!

-Derek

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Moderator - UNIBE, Main Foreign Med Schools