I think I know the MSKMag audience well enough to know that we’re a bunch that does love some evidence. We debate the nuances of treatment techniques, and we even (sometimes) read past the abstract of the RCTs we’re citing. We do this for a simple reason: we want to provide the best possible care based on what is actually happening on the ground rather than ‘gut feeling’ or outdated traditions.
Yet, when we step out of the treatment room and into the ‘business’, that rigour often vanishes. We operate our clinics by feel, doing what we think is best without truly knowing. It’s not entirely our fault either; there actually isn’t that much data to guide us. What is it that makes a successful clinic owner successful? What are the most profitable clinics doing differently? No one really knows because nobody has ever asked. So we’re instead left with gurus to guide us on the ‘business’ – the exact thing we abhor.
HMDG launched The Private Practice Barometer late last year with a simple aim: collect anonymous data from MSK clinic owners to finally answer some of those questions regarding the business side of the industry and the people that are running it. And despite the protestations from some who wrongly believed the intention for the survey was some secret other reason that they’d entirely made up in their heads - over 700 volunteered some data! And answers have been found! Huzzah!
Now I can’t leak all of the results yet - that will come soon, I promise. But what I can do is hand-pick some of the points that I think are of particular interest.
Clinic Ownership - Is it worth it?
I’ll start with the question that I was most intrigued to see the answer to. What is the daily reality for most clinic owners? Are they happy? Are they stressed? Are they too busy counting their cash to care? There is an aspirational narrative often sold to clinicians about opening your own clinic: that it brings complete clinical freedom and WEALTH! Surely? Well, it turns out – maybe not quite.
One uncomfortable truth staring out of the data is that the median MSK clinic owner earns around £48k annually - far below the compensation you would expect of any CEO. The reason I find it a particularly interesting data point is that the amount is also about the market rate of a senior clinician – in fact it’s less than a Band 7 salary in the NHS. And yet the responsibilities of running a clinic, along with the risk involved, comes with far more stress than simply managing a case-load provided for you.
