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Urgicare salary based on patient billing?


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This type of salary format seems a little unusual, so I thought I'd throw it out there for general opinions:

 

Does a job in Urgicare at 30% of what the office receives from patient billing sound like a reasonable offer? (There is no base pay) They claim they are a busy office and you can essentially see as many patients as you can handle.

For offers like these I find the best advice on what you'll actually bring is going to be the PAs working there. This could be a sweet deal depending on their billing department/collections or it could be a bust. Hard to tell without knowing the inner workings of this urgent care.

  • 2 weeks later...

It sounds like some of it may be due to a large disparity in the number of patients seen by different providers in the office (some fast/some slow). I have doubts that this format would be good idea for a new grad. They said they might be able to offer a different salary format because I am a new grad. Will see what happens.

Mulling this over in my head I came up "would your slow productivity cause a ripple in the pond". In other words...as a new grad you are either going to be seeing less patients than the more seasoned providers, or making more mistakes. Hopefully, (I am sure you will) err on the side of caution and move a bit slower. Will the other providers be willing to help mentor you? Or are they more interested in "treating and streeting" to generate more income? If they do happen to take their time to mentor you, now two providers will be moving slower. Slower moving providers bring in less money, as they see less patients. So my point...

 

The "1/3 of what the billing collects"...is that of your patients? Or do all monies get pooled and then divided up? Will the person who can turn and burn, seeing 60 patients a day get paid the same as the new grad? If you are just getting that 30% on your patients, will your patient panel be a fair mix of private insurance, Medicare/Medicade/uninsured or will the new guy get stuck seeing the uninsured/underinsured...you can't get blood from a stone so those folks are not going to pay..if they don't pay, your 30% of nothing is nothing.

 

I don't know your experience prior to PA school but are you ready to get into a high volume job where productivity is expected, if not demanded, with little to no mentorship as your first job out of school?

It would be 30% of my patients only. I'm guessing I'm going to be at 2-3 pts/hour to start at the most, probably closer to 2 for a few months for sure anyway. 2 patients per hour is not a lot on an annual basis. 3 patients per hour is a respectable amount of money. I think there is a potential to make a decent living once I'm up and swinging, but certainly worry about it as a new grad. I understand that medicine is business, but I am not the type of person to compromise care, so if I can't make it work at a lower patient volume, I won't commit. They said volume is up to me - they have plenty of patients, but are aware that I will be slow to start - and claim they are ok with it. I'm just trying to figure out if I can afford it. They don't accept medicare/medicaid and are private insurer or private pay only, so that probably influences their billing some. They are sending an intent to hire with some details (maybe they've come up with another salary scheme for me). They claim that the other providers are supportive. It probably isn't my first choice as of yet, but I'm not writing it off just yet either.

Kayakr,

 

I am a new grad and working my first job in an Urgent Care. I would think long and hard about taking this job with this salary based on billing. As a new grad you will be slower than the other practitioners but you also likely be given the easier patients to deal with ie sore throat, sinus pain, UTI. Those diagnoses require very little work-up meaning much less to bill for. There is no way you can make money by seeing two patients an hour that have Strep. I am not even sure two patients with more complicated issues like chest pain or abdominal pain would make a ton of money. Also, I think it is great that you are committed to providing quality care for your patients but the reality is that Urgent Care does not lend itself to taking your time and consulting current or uptodate. Also while it is nice that the practitioners at this job site say they are okay with you being slow that won't last for long. They will likely expect you to move fast long before you are ready. You will also likely feel the need to move faster so that you can feel like you are actually contributing/pulling your own weight. I started working a month ago in the midst of flu season. I work 12 hour shifts and on my first day I only saw 15 patients. By the third day I was at 25. Today I worked 8 hours and saw 30. I love what I do. I am never bored and there is no clock watching at my job. But I do spend time outside reading up on diagnosis, treatment and pearls to give patients. Bottom line is that Urgent Care is fast paced and fun. But at it its core it is also business. People come in looking for quick fixes. You have to do your best to treat their health concern and make them happy :) Anyway just thought I would relay to you my own experience. Good luck with the job search!

Kayakr,

 

I am a new grad and working my first job in an Urgent Care. I would think long and hard about taking this job with this salary based on billing. As a new grad you will be slower than the other practitioners but you also likely be given the easier patients to deal with ie sore throat, sinus pain, UTI. Those diagnoses require very little work-up meaning much less to bill for. There is no way you can make money by seeing two patients an hour that have Strep. I am not even sure two patients with more complicated issues like chest pain or abdominal pain would make a ton of money. Also, I think it is great that you are committed to providing quality care for your patients but the reality is that Urgent Care does not lend itself to taking your time and consulting current or uptodate. Also while it is nice that the practitioners at this job site say they are okay with you being slow that won't last for long. They will likely expect you to move fast long before you are ready. You will also likely feel the need to move faster so that you can feel like you are actually contributing/pulling your own weight. I started working a month ago in the midst of flu season. I work 12 hour shifts and on my first day I only saw 15 patients. By the third day I was at 25. Today I worked 8 hours and saw 30. I love what I do. I am never bored and there is no clock watching at my job. But I do spend time outside reading up on diagnosis, treatment and pearls to give patients. Bottom line is that Urgent Care is fast paced and fun. But at it its core it is also business. People come in looking for quick fixes. You have to do your best to treat their health concern and make them happy :) Anyway just thought I would relay to you my own experience. Good luck with the job search!

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your insights. It is greatly appreciated!

  • 1 month later...

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