“Be my own boss at last! “, think many permanent doctors, dentists and psychotherapists — around half turn this wish into reality. However, the administrative effort is high! So that your practice set-up does not fail due to bureaucracy, it should not only be carefully considered, but also planned in a structured manner. This is because the process is lengthy: Applications, approval and approval procedures cost founders a lot of time, although they ultimately only serve one purpose: the benefit of patients.
These are the formal requirements
First of all, 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 bell sign, you have to make many groundbreaking decisions. Thorough preparation is therefore important!
This applies to doctors and 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 degree from abroad is mandatory. All doctors who would later also like to treat legally insured patients need completed specialist training. This is not absolutely necessary for setting up your own private practice.
This applies to speech therapists and physiotherapists
Are you a speech therapist or physiotherapist with a desire to start a business? Then, like all medical or therapeutic service providers, you need appropriate proof of your education and additional qualifications if you want to open a practice.
Business decisions on the way to personal practice
In addition to these formal requirements, you will also be confronted with a number of essential business questions as part of the start-up process: Do you only want to treat privately insured patients and self-payers or apply for health insurance approval? Are you opening a new practice or would you rather take over an existing one? Closely related to this is the choice of practice model. Set up one:
- individual practice,
- joint practice,
- community of practice or a
- medical care center?
You should be able to answer all of these questions before you set up. In addition to individual preference, these decisions also depend on many other factors. For example, from the available financial resources, the preferred location, the competitive situation, private circumstances and much more.
Anyone who is uncertain 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 doctor's register and your health insurance approval
Alternative: As soon as you have decided on a practice model, you enter the first hot phase of setting up a practice. You are now entering the first hot phase of setting up a practice and can (or must!) Now submit the relevant applications to your competent Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.
How to get registered in the doctor's register
First, register yourself as a doctor or psychotherapist in the medical 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 path to a Statutory Health Insurance Physician's Approval
Do you want to treat legally insured persons? Then apply for your health insurance approval as a dentist, general practitioner or psychotherapist following admission to the register. Officially, this means: Admission to participate in contract medical care. The prerequisite for this is the choice of a registered doctor's office, i.e. the location of your practice. The rules for this process can be found on the information page “Settle down!” the Federal Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.
You will also need a number of certificates and documents for cash register approval. These include, for example:
- copy of the entry in the doctor's register
- Police clearance certificate
- cv
- Proof of professional liability insurance
- Completed application form
Dentists also need proof of the two-year preparation period that they have completed as an assistant or representative of a contract dentist with a statutory health insurance doctor.
For more information on how to apply and the required documents, please contact Federal Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians or to the Federal Association of Statutory Health Insurance Dentists or the appropriate branch in your federal state.
Step 2: Inform the authorities that you are setting up a practice
Have you received your entry in the (dental) doctor register and also your health insurance approval? Then you have already come a long way closer to your dream of your own practice! Before you can officially settle down, you must inform the following authorities:
- health department
- Medical Association
- Versorgungswerk
- health insurance
- tax office
- TUV
- Berufsgenossenschaft
It is worthwhile to prepare an individual checklist so that you don't forget any office for your start-up project.
Step 3: Start practice marketing
However, it is not only government agencies that need to be informed about your branch in your own practice, but also your future patients. So that you are not in an empty practice, start practice marketing in good time. A combination of various measures to reach as many people as possible is particularly successful:
After these three steps, you are now almost ready to start working in your own (dental) doctor or psychotherapeutic practice! What is still missing? The practice organization! Because clever founders think about the course of everyday practice in advance. You will have an average of eight hours of additional administrative tasks per week.
Step 4: Organize Your Practice Digitally
From the electronic health records about the patient admission up to reckoning: Digitalization has long since reached the healthcare sector and makes everyday practice easier for doctors and psychotherapists. Instead of wasting a lot of time with administration, practice owners have more time for the work they really care about: treating their patients.
Because paperless processes save a lot of time! During the anamnesis, Nelly records important data from her patients via their smartphones and stores them directly in the practice portal, where they are “ready to click” 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. This is because the signature and billing tool enables you to organize your practice paperless by digitizing documents, signatures and payments. This makes lengthy paperwork unnecessary. Now you too can create a digital workflow in your practice. We advise you non-binding and free to your individual case!
These are the benefits of Nelly:
- 90 minutes of daily time savings for your practice staff
- GDPR and MBO-AE compliant
- 80 percent lower printing costs
The personal names used in this article always refer equally to all persons. Dual naming and alternate names are omitted in order to improve readability.
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