Physician private practice may be under pressure in today’s health care environment, but it remains a viable and desirable practice setting for lots of physicians—as long as they get adequate training in the business of medicine, financial literacy and other practical skills essential for managing a practice beyond clinical care.
A CME track curated by experts at the AMA focuses on achieving long-term success in private practice.
Learn how to effectively build and manage a private medical practice by exploring practice management insights and developing the administrative, leadership and financial acumen needed to excel.
With the “Thriving in Private Practice CME Track,” physicians can learn at their own pace and get an exclusive, AMA-members-only certificate upon completion of the three educational activities.
The course is part of the AMA Ed Hub™ and designated by the AMA for a maximum of 7.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™️. AMA Ed Hub is an online learning platform that brings together high-quality CME, maintenance of certification, and educational content from trusted sources, all in one place—with activities relevant to you, automated credit tracking, and reporting for some states and specialty boards.
Learn more about AMA CME accreditation.
Focus on fundamentals
Activities in this curated CME track help you learn how to:
- Negotiate contracts with confidence. Learn about vital clauses, legal rules, conflict resolution techniques and audit-readiness techniques.
- Drive workforce success. Implement effective hiring and retention tactics while promoting trust, offering competitive salaries and promoting work-life balance.
- Grow your patient base through dynamic marketing. Combine community outreach, social engagement and search-engine optimization (SEO) best practices.
It takes astute clinical judgment as well as a commitment to collaboration and solving challenging problems to succeed in independent settings that are often fluid, and the AMA offers the resources and support physicians need to both start and sustain success in private practice.
The backstops to patient care
The “Thriving in Private Practice CME Track” features 11 modules, each offering its own CME credit, in four key realms of practice management: payor contracting and audits, human resources, marketing and branding, and revenue cycle management.
“Payor Contracting for Health Care 101.” Learn basic contract provisions and fundamental legal rules governing contracts, identifies commonly negotiated provisions, and examines common disputes, including subject matter and process.
“Payor Contracting for Health Care 201.” Discover how to explain advanced concepts of payor contracting, such as pay for performance, bundled payments and capitation, and identify practical tips for the best approach to your practice's contracting.
“Trends in Payor Audits and Disputes—Part 1.” Get to know common key contract terms, such as eligibility, medical necessity, authorization, payment terms and termination rights. Also, learn how to assess the financial and operational impact of each term on your practice.
“Trends in Payor Audits and Disputes—Part 2.” Understand how to assess value-based care (VBC) opportunities by comparing traditional fee-for-service models with emerging VBC arrangements. Get guidance on making informed decisions about payor participation based on practice priorities, patient volume and risk tolerance.
“Recruiting and Retaining Medical Support Staff.” Learn how to recognize key factors that contribute to the successful recruitment and retention of medical staff.
“Virtual Assistants.” Read up how to develop a systematic hiring process for virtual assistants, as well as how to design and execute a comprehensive integration plan for virtual assistants.
“Recruiting Into Your Private Practice.” Get to know basic contract provisions and fundamental legal rules governing contracts. Dive into commonly negotiated provisions and learn about common disputes, including subject matter and process.
“Introduction to Marketing and Branding.” Identify what makes your practice different, recognize how to use public relations to improve community outreach, and learn how to create a digital presence to help better serve your patients.
“Advanced Marketing and Branding.” Discover how to enhance your practice’s reach by understanding the significance of SEO and its impact on your online reputation, along with the essential questions to ask any digital vendor you engage. Ultimately, these efforts may contribute to supporting patients in accessing the health care they need.
“Revenue Cycle Management.” Gain an understanding of how the revenue cycle functions and identify ways to optimize it.
“E/M Documentation and Coding: Update for Ambulatory Visits.” Understand evaluation and management (E/M) code guidelines and their time saving potential. Get guidance on how to use E/M codes in practice.
Your go-to source for CME and education
The AMA Ed Hub is a reference that helps fuel your professional growth while also meeting training and state CME requirements. The AMA Ed Hub features additional, members-only topical CME tracks, including those for the quality improvement and patient safety, ethical decision-making and leading effective teams.
Get exclusive access to curated CME and certificates completely free to AMA members.
