jts Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 I am a new FP PA in Californa, I average from 18 to 24 patients in an 8-hour day. Maybe with more experience my numbers will increase but for now, no one is complaining. I have a full-time MA with me at all times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanna.nola Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 i've been in practice for almost 3 months and though i'm scheduled for up to 18, the most i've ever seen is 15 (huge no-show rate), and usually more like 13. i know this is low, though it is sometimes overwhelming to me. seeing all of you list 20+ makes my head spin. my SP (who is just an employee like me) sees 20ish. i work at a FQHC and we are in a lot of transition and understaffed support-wise at the moment. for instance, i do not always have my own MA. also, as its a FQHC, our pt population is extremely complicated and high need. i diagnose DM at least once a day. i'm curious how many pts folks saw straight out of school and in that first 6 months, first year etc. am i on track? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paula Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Joanna: You are on track. I work at an FQHC clinic on an Indian Reservation. My patient counts vary day to day and we have a huge no-show rate too. I see anywhere from 5 (yes, I mean 5) to 12 patients a day. It is rarely more than that and I spend lots of time with patients, many who are complicated with multiple medications, dx, etc. When I work the walk-in section of our clinic I might see 20. Be happy with your numbers as it gives you lots of time to think of your differentials, treatment plans, education, etc. You have a great opportunity to learn at your practice. Don't worry about the numbers just now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmj11 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 This is a bit of a tangent but not really. Do you think that society as a whole, especially our patients, know how busy we are during the day? Here is my point. I share a suite with a financial advising group. I can observe their pace as they can mine. They live in a very different world. They come to work at 9 AM. They sit around and chit chat, make a few phone calls, make coffee go out for lunch and etc. (and all drive $40K + cars). I also other friends in the business world who have this much slower pace of work. Then my work, and it sounds typical as I've read these posts, I get to my desk by about 7 AM. I start reviewing MRIs, labs and as soon as patients are awake start returning phone calls. Then my first patient comes in about 8:45 and it is a mad rush. I honestly don't have time to even go to the bathroom again until about 6 PM. The thoughts of not stuffing a sandwich in my mouth while typing notes with the other hand or having a phone under my chin listening to a patient is foreign to me. The reason that I don't think that patients understand is that when our phones go on (8:45) I've already started with my first patient. Then ten provider-level patient calls come it. It takes 20-30 minutes to handle one patient call. I only take the calls of people who are in crisis so it involves medication changes, hand holding, complex discussions, charting, sending in the Rx and etc. I'm lucky if I can get one of those calls done during the day, maybe two if there is a no-show. So, even though our phone policy states that we will try to get back within 24 hours, comes the afternoon when the same patients start calling back pissed that I have "ignored their calls." My office manager tells them when they call the first time that I will probably not get back until the evening. But my point is, it seems that we in the medical world must work at an insane pace that few understand. I think patients visualize us like my suite-mates. Walking in, sitting around talking about the news or sports, watching some funny videos on You tube, making a couple of calls, then all going out to lunch. So, in that context, I see why they get upset when they call and three hours later I still haven't called them back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted May 12, 2013 Moderator Share Posted May 12, 2013 Honestly I think we have to some how stop giving our time away - no other profession out there is expected to do so much for free Do you think your atty would call you back at 3am, or what about your banker, or anyone else for that matter....... I hate the idea of a flat fee per patient on panel, but it seems like the only alternative besides having insurance companies pay us by the minute.... which would be a bonanza for us, but very expensive to the entire system as all the "free time" would become "paid time" I am very quick to correct patients that call me in the off hours for trivial issues and I am dealing with a great patient panel in my practice, but in past jobs (esp with a high medicaid population) the patients think you are just sitting around doing nothing and are at their beck an call...... No I don't think people understand how busy we are No I don't think people understand how much effort and time goes into charting so that we can get paid No I don't think people realize how hard it is to get paid, and how little we ultimately get paid I find it amazing to watch the help wanted ads for other professionals, our local city manager (population 45k) just got a raise to 105k, my small town manager is at $75k, new grad engineers are at the 79k range - yet a 10 year PA is lucky to be at 100k...... Not sure how to make it better....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medman2007 Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 - yet a 10 year PA is lucky to be at 100k...... meaning for you personally? Or a 10 year PA in general? Just wondering b/c there are plenty of PAs making 100K+ with 10 yrs experience or less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted May 13, 2013 Moderator Share Posted May 13, 2013 - yet a 10 year PA is lucky to be at 100k...... meaning for you personally? Or a 10 year PA in general? Just wondering b/c there are plenty of PAs making 100K+ with 10 yrs experience or less on average at 10 years you are doing pretty good to be at 100k this is an average, and that means some are above and some are below I was way above in an ER job with 8 years, but then returned to IM and am now way below hope to once again be way above once my own practice takes off..... http://www.aapa.org/uploadedFiles/content/Research/2010%20Census%20Report%20National%20_Final.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PA-Larb Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 For the previous posts, I work a walk in clinic within a family practice clinic. My load varies from 5-25 pts per 8/hrs. I get paid 105k with full benefits, and RVU bonus (10 dollars per RVU over 3250 RVUs per year). I'm hoping to have at least 5000 RVU per year, if patients increase, then I could make up to 7000 RVU (making salary about 150k) Sounds like you guys are getting screwed. My last gig was ER where I made 140k, but I worked 15 twelve hours shifts a month. No bennies in the ER, contract gig. I now make 75/hr with a ER group for PRN work. Northeast sounds horrible for salary!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 12, 2013 Moderator Share Posted December 12, 2013 for em at least NE is better than west coast. a GREAT per diem em job on the west coast pays 70/hr. an equivalent job in the NE pays 75-90+/hr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplify Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 on average at 10 years you are doing pretty good to be at 100k this is an average, and that means some are above and some are below I was way above in an ER job with 8 years, but then returned to IM and am now way below hope to once again be way above once my own practice takes off..... http://www.aapa.org/uploadedFiles/content/Research/2010%20Census%20Report%20National%20_Final.pdf In my neck of the woods (New England), even new providers start around the 95K mark (obviously this varies a bit from location to location). Anything less than this is disengenuous to the profession in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 12, 2013 Moderator Share Posted December 12, 2013 cost of living obviously plays into this a bit. there are jobs out there that I would gladly take for less than my current salary if they were perfect in every other way. see this thread: http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/index.php?/topic/69-perfect-job-minimal-acceptable-salary/?hl=perfect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmj11 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 This is loosely related . . . or maybe closely related to this topic. I live in my own little world so I don't try and measure general medicine according to what I face. But I had a long conversation today with a well-seasoned family practice NP. She is quitting (retiring early). She told me that FP has become unbearable. She works with six other providers and they all feel that way. Must see more and more patients to pay the bills and to earn a decent income. (Like I experience every day) It is a constant fight with insurance companies. So her entire practice is folding, being sold out to a local large hospital group. Some are staying and going to work for a salary and not care anymore about quality of care (their words) but to see patients like in mill. The others (who are even close to retirement age) are retiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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