Today’s physicians have their time maxed out on any given day, and with the cost of running a successful practice, a side-hustle is often welcome as long as it’s not too much of a distraction. Medicine is already a high-income profession, but it’s not without cost. Young physicians take years to find balance and eventually get ahead. Most physicians aren’t looking to replace their income, but for a means to lessen their load and enjoy their work without the pressure of the daily grind.
A realist’s definition of passive income
On the topic of passive income, ears pop up. The first thought that comes to mind is making money while you sleep, or in the case of being a physician – make money while you see other patients. As a realist, you know that nobody makes money for nothing, though, so let’s refine that definition outside of the “get rich quick” schemes. Instead, let’s say passive income is “income that is not proportional to the time you physically put into acquiring it.”
As a new physician, it’s a little extra to go towards your bills, loans, and obligations while you gain your footing. As your career solidifies, your passive income may afford you some much needed time away with your family. Finally, as you near retirement, it is a means of building wealth. If you’re lucky, you may start building wealth earlier in the equation.
Now, what degree of interest do you have? If the idea of a passive income appeals to you, we have several ideas to ponder with the goal of additional income and an eventual path to retirement in mind.
Offer or increase ancillary services
Consider a revenue-generating service that would be an excellent complement to your practice and an added value to your patient population. Physicians and other investors have made significant profits thinking outside of the standard doctor’s office box. Maybe a physical therapy suite and gym or on-site imaging? Your patients will thank you for not sending them to another office, as well.
Consider cash-only or concierge services
Don’t assume that everyone is insured, and you must work the same way every physician does. Many primary care physicians who offer these cash-only and concierge services to those left out of affordable insurance changes have found great success. They are reporting fewer hours, little extra paperwork beyond patient information, and no insurance hassles. Did we mention immediate payment? Your cost will be affordable to patients and still be more than insurance would have paid with less overhead.
Consider expanding your team
Developing your practice by increasing headcount is a way to increase your revenue, especially when you’ve run out of any additional “you” to go around. Bring on some physician assistants or nurse practitioners to collaborate with you and take on the less-complicated patient cases. That will not only enable higher daily capacity, but also allow you to pay more attention to the patients that need you most. The new revenue will pay for your new team members and to the bottom-line.
Offer a niche specialty and new procedures
While you work on expanding your medical team, how about a specialist in a niche service that your practice can cash in? Better yet, utilize some of that extra time and learn the specialty yourself so you can keep the profits.
The same goes for learning a new procedure that you refer patients away for today. Some of these can be learned over the weekend or a week-long course and time to develop mastery with a mentor. If you can manage the time, the rewards can come quickly.
Adopt more administrative work
If you have an excellent reputation with your local hospital, you may be able to get a stipend as a medical director in exchange for some administrative work for the hospital or your insurance network. Many doctors maintain a full-time patient workload and take care of the administrative work in their off-hours, such as early morning, lunchtime, or after-hours. If you have a specialty, the stipend may be higher than others.
Rock a side-gig
Your expertise can help you earn beyond your patient population. As a physician, you can receive some side income giving expert medical testimony, conducting disability evaluations, and doing paid consulting. Some will also pay you for your expert opinion on medical cases, surveys, chart reviews, and clinical trials.
Don’t forget about the media
There are several paid medical experts out on media, from television to social media. Why not you? Social media influencers are paid to promote companies’ products and services. If you or your practice doesn’t have a considerable following, yet, start building that now.
If you like the camera, start vlogging or become a YouTube personality. Getting a consistent following starts to get you advertising, and all you do is be yourself with a purpose for your audience.
Another good speaking gig is a paid guest lecturer for conferences or the pharmaceutical industry.
Be a passive educator
Get paid as a resource for others. You can write a book and self-publish or create a course and market from Udemy or Teachable. Students are looking for exam crunching guides or quizzes to test their knowledge and readiness. All of these can be posted online and bring passive income as they are purchased.
Create an invention or app
Be it medical or not, have you ever said to yourself or out loud, “I wish there was something that did___”? If you are nodding silently to yourself, now is the time to find someone that can bring your ideas to life. Whether it’s a product or an app, you can develop it and either bring it to market yourself or sell your concept to another company that will take on the risk from there. This will earn an early return on your investment.
Market a product you believe in
Seek out retail opportunities that can be sold in your practice to increase profits. Many vitamins and other products are sold privately and not in stores or can be challenging to acquire in your town. Many doctors provide these hard-to-get over-the-counter meds, from vitamins to burn creams, for their patients’ convenience and a small profit. Genexa is also one of those products.
Genexa caring for you – and for your patients
We at Genexa have a mission to make cleaner and healthier medicines, setting a new standard for today's concerns about organic products, free from unnecessary fillers and GMOs. Share with your patients about Genexa, a safer alternative to the legacy brands.
Genexa is another passive revenue stream opportunity. Offer Genexa within your practice as a convenience to your patients and additional profit for your practice.