In 4 steps: Setting up a practice made easy

"Finally be my own boss!" is what many permanently employed physicians, dentists and psychotherapists think - about half turn this wish into reality. However, the administrative effort is high! So that your practice foundation does not fail due to bureaucracy, it should not only be well considered, but also planned in a structured manner. After all, the process is lengthy: applications, approval and licensing procedures cost founders a lot of time, even though they ultimately serve only one purpose: the well-being of patients.

These are the formal requirements

One thing first: You should plan at least one year for the entire process of opening a practice. Because on the way to your own name on the doorbell, you will have to make many groundbreaking decisions. Thorough preparation is therefore important!

This applies to physicians as well as psychotherapists

But who is actually allowed to open a medical or psychotherapeutic practice in Germany? The answer to this question is regulated by law: a (dental) medical or psychotherapeutic license or an equivalent qualification from abroad is mandatory. All doctors who later wish to treat patients with statutory health insurance must also have completed specialist training. This is not mandatory for setting up your own private practice.

This applies to speech therapists as well as physiotherapists

Are you a speech therapist or physiotherapist who wants to set up your own practice? Then, like all medical or therapeutic service providers, you need appropriate proof of your training and additional qualifications if you want to open a practice.

Entrepreneurial decisions on the way to owning a practice

In addition to these formal requirements, you will also be confronted with a number of essential entrepreneurial questions during the start-up process: Do you want to treat only privately insured patients as well as self-pay patients or apply for a health insurance license? Are you opening a new practice or do you prefer to take over an existing one? Closely related to this is the choice of practice model. Do you establish one:

• Solo practice,
• Joint practice,
• Group practice or a
• medical care center?

You should be able to answer all these questions before you start up. In addition to individual preference, these decisions also depend on many other factors. For example, the financial resources available, the preferred location, the competitive situation, private circumstances and much more.

If you are unsure, you can also seek professional support from medical tax advisors or medical lawyers. Here, with the help of professional advice, you can weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of the various models and legal forms.

Step 1: Apply for entry in the physician register and your health insurance license

Alternative: As soon as you have decided on a practice model, you will enter the first hot phase of establishing a practice. Now you are entering the first hot phase of establishing a practice and can (or must!) now submit the corresponding applications to your responsible Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.

This is how the inclusion in the physician register succeeds

First, you register as a physician or psychotherapist in the physician register of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians or as a dentist in the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Dentists. In addition to the completed application form, the necessary documents include:

Your way to a license as a panel doctor

Do you want to treat patients with statutory health insurance? Then, as a dentist, general practitioner or psychotherapist, you can apply for admission to the statutory health insurance scheme once you have been included in the register. Officially, this means admission to participate in SHI-accredited medical care. The prerequisite for this is the selection of a contract doctor's office, i.e. the location of your practice. The regulations for this process can be found on the information page "Settle down!" of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.

Again, you will need some certificates and documents for the health insurance license. These include, for example:

• Copy of the entry in the medical register
• Police clearance certificate
• Resume
• Proof of professional liability insurance
• Completed application form

Dentists also require proof of the two-year preparatory period they have completed as an assistant or representative of a panel dentist.

For further information on how to apply and the required documents, please contact the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung or the Kassenzahnärztliche Bundesvereinigung or the corresponding branch office in your federal state.

Step 2: Inform the authorities about the practice foundation

You have received your entry in the (dental) register of doctors and also your health insurance license? Then you are already a lot closer to your dream of having your own practice! Before you can officially set up your practice, you still have to inform the following authorities:

• Health Department
• Medical Association
• Pension fund
• Health insurance
• Tax office
• TÜV
• Employer's liability insurance association
  It's worth drawing up an individual checklist so that you don't forget any offices for your start-up project.

Step 3: Start practice marketing

However, not only government agencies need to be informed about your establishment in your own practice, but also your future patients. So that you don't find yourself with an empty practice, start your practice marketing in good time. A combination of different measures is particularly successful in reaching as many people as possible:

After these three steps, you are now almost ready to start working in your own (dental) doctor's or psychotherapeutic practice! What is still missing? The organization of the practice! Clever founders start thinking about the day-to-day running of their practice in advance. On average, you will have to spend eight hours a week on additional administrative tasks.

Step 4: Organize your practice digitally

From electronic patient files to patient admission and billing: digitalization has long since reached the healthcare sector and makes everyday practice life easier for doctors and psychotherapists. Instead of wasting a lot of time on administration, practice owners have more time for the work that really matters to them: treating their patients.

Because paperless processes save a lot of time! Nelly records important data via your patients' smartphones when they take their medical history and saves it directly in the practice portal, where it is "click-ready" for your staff at any time. This makes the printer, scanner and shredder in your practice (almost) obsolete from day one!

Nelly saves practice founders time and money

With Nelly, you can give your patients 90 minutes more time - every day. The signature and billing tool allows you to organize your practice paperlessly by digitizing documents, signatures and payments. This makes tedious paperwork superfluous. Create a digital workflow in your practice now. We will advise you on your individual case free of charge and without obligation!

These are the advantages of Nelly:

• 90 minutes daily time savings for your practice staff
• DSGVO and MBO E-compliant
• 80 percent less printing costs

Contact Nelly now!

The personal designations used in this article always refer equally to all persons. For the sake of better readability, we have refrained from using double or opposite names.