I feel a little like Jane Goodall sometimes, out in the jungle to observe and understand these magnificent creatures, all in an effort to preserve their way of life. She, of course, was focused on chimpanzees. I am focused on pediatricians. I also give myself way too much credit here, what else is new?
A lot of ideas run through my head as part of this anthropological research. "Should we start a company that specializes in valuations for private pediatric practices so that every pediatric practice knows what they are worth?" or "Why can't we start a national pediatric IPA?" or "Someone should start a national pediatric clinical database!" (oh wait, the AAP is already working on that)
Most of these ideas come from things that you talk to me about. I keep hearing from practices who lost their bookkeeper or whose accountant was clearly missing massive red flags. I even worked recently with a practice whose accountant failed to file their taxes for a few years. Crazy, right?
Recently, Paul, Andrew, and I have been chatting about the need for better bookkeeping and accounting services for pediatricians. Too often, when Paul or I do some consulting work for a practice and we ask for the P&L or budget, what we get back is confusing or incomplete.
As a result, we're looking into the state of bookkeeping among pediatric practices. Are people satisfied or unhappy? Is it expensive? Is it helping you run your practice? We threw together this quick survey to learn a little more. Please, take a minute or two to answer a few quick questions for us. It's anonymous (unless you choose to share your email) and I'll report the results.
Bookkeeping Survey (click here)