As healthcare professionals, we can all agree that the healthcare system in the US is broken. It's too difficult to maneuver for patients and practitioners alike. Today we talk with Dr. Keith Smith, anesthesiologist and a founder of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma. This practice is a pioneer in cost transparency and as you will hear during our interview, charges a fixed price for many common outpatient surgeries. Dr. Smith and his partners understood many years ago the challenges of dealing with insurance companies and decided to break free by switching to this model. This episode complements the direct primary care model that was highlighted in episode 6 with Dr. Josh Umbehr. Keith was very straightforward in this interview about his feelings about the intervening parties involved in healthcare today, (government, insurance co, etc.) I think many of you listening can relate to these frustrations. The difference is that he is doing something about it, and I hope that by listening to the challenges faced and the benefits gained, we physicians are inspired to take back control about the health care that we deliver.   Dr. Smith definitely gets you fired up about empowering physicians to take charge of their own destinies. Ultimately, costs in the US Healthcare system will be reduced and it is imperative that physicians lead this change rather than have it dictated to us. The Surgery Center of Oklahoma  is one model that is producing results. 4 price decreases in the last 9 years, with no increase in surgical costs and yet the doctors remain well paid and more importantly are independent decision makers. Click here to learn more about the Surgery Center of Oklahoma. Please visit our website at www.doctormoneymatters.com You can follow our show on: Twitter @drmoneymatters Facebook: Doctor Money Matters Instagram @doctormoneymatters I encourage healthcare professionals to join our private facebook group, Doctor Money Matters. If you enjoyed this episode please leave us positive review on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Any constructive criticism or topics for future shows can be directed to comments@doctormoneymatters.com Please remember what you heard on this show is for your entertainment and education only. Please speak with the appropriate experts prior to making decisions regarding your own financial situation. Thanks again and look for our next episode coming soon.

Episode 11. Keith Smith, MD -- Fixed Cost Surgery

Welcome to the Doctor Money Matters podcast. 

I am your host Dr. Tarang Patel, a practicing diagnostic radiologist in Phoenix, AZ. 

I started this podcast as a way to share knowledge about financial matters as they relate to health care professionals. We spent many years learning about the science and art of providing patient care but most of us have relatively little knowledge about reaching financial well being. I know that I had no formal training in setting up investment accounts, negotiating contracts, buying insurance, buying real estate, etc. I just learned by reading and also by making many mistakes. Health care professionals are trusted to take put their patients needs first and we in turn assume everyone in other fields work the same way. Unfortunately this is not always true. 

By talking about these topics, I hope we can reduce the many financial mistakes that prior generations of doctors have made.  Those physicians were able to overcome these mistakes because of shorter training periods, less debt, and they were more likely to be in private practice. Today we no longer have those luxuries and many of us have significant debt burdens. The good news is that we also have access to information that the prior generation never had. 

A little background about me. As I said before I am a practicing radiologist in Phoenix, AZ. I went to undergrad at Indiana U. (Go Hoosiers), medical school at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (Now AT Still Univ) in Missouri, moved east and did my radiology residency at New York Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. I then moved west to serve my Air Force commitment at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, NV. I then did a fellowship in Body/Musculoskeletal Imaging at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Since I finished training I have been in a hospital employed group for the last 6 years.

I have always enjoyed learning about finance and have read (listened to) many of the financial books. I also spent time reading on the bogleheads.org forum which I found to be a valuable source of information. Finally I just observed that many of my colleagues and I had the same questions about relatively basic financial matters but it was difficult to find clear answers.

Hopefully you find these podcasts useful. I encourage you to subscribe to them, that way you will be updated when any episodes are released automatically. Also please let your friends and colleagues know about this podcast. 

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Please understand that this show is for entertainment and education only and you should do your own research and speak with the appropriate experts prior to making any changes in regards to material you may have heard on the show. The opinions from the guests on this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or of Doctor Money Matters, LLC.

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On this episode we talk about social media with Dana Corriel MD, an internal medicine physician and creator of the SoMeDocs group. She recently left the practice of medicine to help physicians develop their online presence. Her goal is to help empower physicians reach their patients, a broader audience, and develop their brand and yet balance it with responsibilities as professionals, employees, etc. We talked about why she left medicine to pursue this opportunity. Dr. Corriel runs master classes for physicians interested in improving or developing their presence. I am going to be a teacher in one of the upcoming courses (in Aug 2020) for those who want to start a podcast. If you are interested,  here is the link. Note this episode was recorded just prior to the Covid shutdowns in March 2020 and yet is timely because we just saw the power of physician social media this week when the journal of vascular surgery published and then retracted an article about social media posts of vascular surgery residents and fellows. That article was probably published to a very narrow audience, yet was able to be circulated widely because of twitter, facebook, instagram, etc. The article created a firestorm because of the techniques and judgements of its authors about the posts and calling pictures of female physicians in bathing suits potentially inappropriate but not the same of male physicians. Anyway there was a very quick and appropriate backlash which prompted retraction of the article and wide reassessment of gender biases in medicine in a way that traditional media could not have done. Please support our sponsor Pearson Ravitz if you are in the market for disability insurance and especially if you are early in your career for the best rates. Please visit our website at www.doctormoneymatters.com for the catalog of all our prior episodes. Here is a link to the SoMeDocs website where you can find out more information about what Dr. Corriel is doing to help physicians with the sometimes confusing world of social media. You can follow our show on: Twitter @drmoneymatters Facebook: Doctor Money Matters Instagram @doctormoneymatters I encourage healthcare professionals to join our private facebook group, Doctor Money Matters. If you enjoyed this episode please leave us positive review on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Any constructive criticism or topics for future shows can be directed to comments@doctormoneymatters.com Please remember what you heard on this show is for your entertainment and education only. Please speak with the appropriate experts prior to making decisions regarding your own financial situation. Thanks for listening and  please leave us positive reviews and continue to share this podcast with your colleagues.

Ep 62. Doctors and Social Media -- Dana Corriel, MD

Welcome to the Doctor Money Matters Podcast. In this episode we talk with Gita Pensa MD, an emergency medicine physician and fellow podcaster who created an incredible podcast which is a must listen about lawsuits in medicine and the personal impact it had on her. Its a “Serial” type podcast which is extremely well done. I highly recommend it. Note this episode was recorded just prior to the Covid shutdowns in March 2020. Please support our sponsor Pearson Ravitz if you are in the market for disability insurance and especially if you are early in your career for the best rates. In this episode we discuss why Dr. Pensa started the podcast. We talk about the impact the lawsuit had on her and she talks about how she felt initially and how even years later it has an impact, not just how long these suits can drag out, and having to relive it over and over again. We also talk about what physicians don’t know about if they are named in a malpractice lawsuit. We are never taught about how to feel if this happens. Residency programs and CME talks may discuss some of the legal issues, but they rarely address the personal impact on physicians. The simple threat of a lawsuit makes most physicians uncomfortable and for those who have gone through depositions/trials it can scar you for a long time. We discuss how it can impact your non professional life in addition to your worklife.  We also discuss the role of physician experts in the malpractice world. She calls some of them “Testeliars” on her podcast. These are doctors who make a career out of malpractice testimony. Dr. Pensa suggests talks about her solutions to make it fair for all physicians. Finally we talk about what her future plans are and what creating this podcast has done for her, how its allowed her to reach other physicians who have then connected with her about their experiences and how that has helped her find new purpose. This is a jam packed episode. Gita’s podcast is available on all the major outlets.  Doctors and Litigation: The L Word  Please visit our website at www.doctormoneymatters.com You can follow our show on: Twitter @drmoneymatters Facebook: Doctor Money Matters Instagram @doctormoneymatters I encourage healthcare professionals to join our private facebook group, Doctor Money Matters. If you enjoyed this episode please leave us positive review on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Any constructive criticism or topics for future shows can be directed to comments@doctormoneymatters.com Please remember what you heard on this show is for your entertainment and education only. Please speak with the appropriate experts prior to making decisions regarding your own financial situation. Thanks for listening and  please leave us positive reviews and continue to share this podcast with your colleagues.  

Ep 61. Gita Pensa, MD -- Malpractice litigation and its impact on the physician

Welcome to the Doctor Money Matters Podcast. In this episode we talk about student loans with Ben White, MD a radiologist and blogger who writes about various topics but has written a FREE book about student loans. Note this episode was recorded pre covid so there have been some changes relating to loan deferrals so please check with your loan servicer prior to making any changes. Please support our sponsor Pearson Ravitz if you are in the market for disability insurance and especially if you are early in your career for the best rates. We talk about types of student loans (Federal direct and plus, private, etc.) We talk loan strategies in relation to USPLF loan forgiveness program. He goes into good detail about how to time your payments including not paying during the first half of your intern year if going for forgiveness. Ben says you almost never want to refinance early in residency which can run counter to the advice you may have heard. In his opinion the forgiveness program may not go away despite the headlines you read. Ben’s free student loan book is available at www.benwhite.com/studentloans/ Please visit our website at www.doctormoneymatters.com You can follow our show on: Twitter @drmoneymatters Facebook: Doctor Money Matters Instagram @doctormoneymatters I encourage healthcare professionals to join our private facebook group, Doctor Money Matters. If you enjoyed this episode please leave us positive review on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Any constructive criticism or topics for future shows can be directed to comments@doctormoneymatters.com Please remember what you heard on this show is for your entertainment and education only. Please speak with the appropriate experts prior to making decisions regarding your own financial situation. Thanks for listening and  please leave us positive reviews and continue to share this podcast with your colleagues.  

Ep. 60 -- Student loan basics with Ben White, MD

Welcome to the Doctor Money Matters Podcast. It has certainly been an eventful spring between the Covid crisis and the national protests bringing more attention to the unequal treatment of African Americans by law enforcement, and also the financial market volatility. Our guest was Joel Greenwald, MD a physician turned financial planner in Minnesota who has a long term financial planning business managing mostly physicians money called Greenwald wealth management. We talk on this episode about the strategies of withdrawing assets once you retire. How do younger physicians get to the asset level we talk about? We also talk about the pros and cons of annuities. He doesn't recommend them for the asset accumulation phase but they can make sense in retirement and we talk about examples of annuities. He does not use them frequently and talks about the conflict of interests that some advisors have.  We also talk about the bucket strategy and withdrawal from different types of accounts (tax free, tax deferred, taxable) Joel thinks that for most physicians working now, social security will still exist and you can get some income from that. However its going to be variable and should not be a significant part of your retirement strategy. We also discuss alternate strategies of withdrawal for FIRE and each talk about our thoughts on the 4% rule. Finally we talk about real estate investing and whether Dr. Greenwald’s clients are investing in it. I mentioned that social media is the new golf course/doctors lounge where some ideas that are pitched are not fully vetted and we should be somewhat skeptical about them. Click here for more info on Greenwald Wealth Management Please support our sponsor Pearson Ravitz if you are in the market for disability insurance and especially if you are nearing the end of residency/fellowship where you may still qualify for discounts that may not be available after training. Please visit our website at www.doctormoneymatters.com You can follow our show on: Twitter @drmoneymatters Facebook: Doctor Money Matters Instagram @doctormoneymatters I encourage healthcare professionals to join our private facebook group, Doctor Money Matters. If you enjoyed this episode please leave us positive review on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Any constructive criticism or topics for future shows can be directed to comments@doctormoneymatters.com Please remember what you heard on this show is for your entertainment and education only. Please speak with the appropriate experts prior to making decisions regarding your own financial situation. Thanks for listening and  please leave us positive reviews and continue to share this podcast with your colleagues.  

Ep 59. Joel Greenwald, MD CFP -- Withdrawing assets in retirement

Welcome to the Doctor Money Matters Podcast. This is a podcast about financial topics related to the healthcare professional. I am your host Dr. Tarang Patel, a diagnostic radiologist in Arizona. Our guest was Cory Fawcett, MD a retired surgeon in Oregon who has written books for medical professionals including The Physicians guide to Real Estate Investing which we talked about on the show. It and his other books are available on Amazon or his own website FinancialSuccessMD.com We talk on this episode about the power of real estate investing. Why Dr. Fawcett favors active real estate investing (ownership) instead of participating in syndications.  We also talk net worth numbers which may surprise many of my listeners. While he was a general surgeon in private practice, Dr. Fawcett had a lower income than many might think and yet through the power of compounding, tax deferment, and debt aversion, he built up quite a net worth that was greater than his combined income from all his work years when he retired. Please visit our website at www.doctormoneymatters.com You can follow our show on: Twitter @drmoneymatters Facebook: Doctor Money Matters Instagram @doctormoneymatters I encourage healthcare professionals to join our private facebook group, Doctor Money Matters. Any constructive criticism or topics for future shows can be directed to comments@doctormoneymatters.com Please remember what you heard on this show is for your entertainment and education only. Please speak with the appropriate experts prior to making decisions regarding your own financial situation. Thanks for listening and  please leave us positive reviews and continue to share this podcast with your colleagues.  

Episode 11. Keith Smith, MD -- Fixed Cost Surgery

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